Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal in St Petersburg and the port of Vysotsk in Russia's Leningrad region in the early hours of 4 July 2026, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. Explosions were heard across St Petersburg at around 6:30 a.m. local time as long-range unmanned aerial vehicles targeted the facility in the city's Kirovsky district. St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said air defences shot down 72 Ukrainian drones across the city and surrounding region, and that the 'technogenic' consequences of the attack at the terminal had been eliminated with no injuries reported. Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that drones had also struck the port of Vysotsk, situated approximately 105 miles northwest of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strikes, describing the targeted facility as key infrastructure 'that generates revenue for Russia's war' [Source: BBC News]. Zelensky characterised the operation as part of Ukraine's 'long-range sanctions' against Russia and said Ukrainian forces also struck Kronstadt, which he identified as an important military target more than 850 kilometres from Ukraine's state border.
The attack is the latest in a sustained campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. An Associated Press count shows more than 50 reported attacks by Ukraine on oil refineries, depots, terminals and other oil infrastructure in Russia and Crimea since late March 2026 [Source: Associated Press]. A previous drone strike on an oil terminal in St Petersburg on 3 June darkened the sky as President Vladimir Putin prepared to host Russia's annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum. The refinery in the Black Sea town of Tuapse was struck four times in just over two weeks during the same period. Kronstadt, a major naval base close to St Petersburg, was also hit in a previous Ukrainian attack on the city in June.
The cumulative effect of the campaign has weighed heavily on Russian fuel output. Russia processed 3.95 million barrels of crude oil per day in June, down 25% from a year earlier and the lowest level in over two decades, according to Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence [Source: Associated Press]. Approximately a third of Russia's oil refining capacity is now offline, according to Chris Weafer, chief executive of Macro-Advisory Ltd [Source: Associated Press]. Russian gasoline production has fallen 17% to 850,000 barrels a day from 1.03 million barrels a day a year ago. Fuel rationing has been introduced across many Russian regions, with hours-long queues reported at petrol stations. A Reuters witness observed long queues at fuel stations in the Leningrad region town of Gatchina on Friday, with some stations entirely out of fuel. Moscow-installed authorities in Crimea enacted fuel rationing in May and subsequently halted sales to civilians on the peninsula altogether.
The strikes came days after Russia launched what the Ukrainian Air Force described as its largest ever attack on Kyiv on 1 July 2026, firing 74 missiles and 496 long-range drones during that operation. Putin has previously described Ukraine's strikes on Russia's energy facilities as 'not critical' and has said the war will continue until his goals are met.
Sources: Bloomberg, BBC News, Sky News, Reuters, Associated Press, NBC News, Kyiv Independent