Ukrainian attack hits St. Petersburg oil facilities, cuts power to 20,000 people
Key Facts
A Ukrainian drone attack hit oil and power facilities in St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region early on Sunday, 18 October 2026, sparking fires at sites used to store and handle petroleum products, according to local authorities. The St. Petersburg governor confirmed fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi depot, ABC News reported. Fires also broke out at industrial warehouses in the city's Kolpinsky district, according to the governor. Reuters cited local authorities as saying one person was killed and 15 were injured in the attack on the city and surrounding region. Across the Russian regions targeted overnight, Russia's defence ministry said air defences downed 1,015 Ukrainian drones.
In the Leningrad region, the governor said the attack hit two electrical substations in Yanino, linking the local power outage to damage at the two facilities. He said about 20,000 people were without electricity on Sunday morning in the region surrounding St. Petersburg, according to ABC News. Companies reported attacks on data and logistics facilities, in addition to the oil and power sites identified by authorities. VK confirmed that one of its data centres in the Leningrad region had been attacked by drones, but said "services were available to users as normal," according to Reuters. Retailer Ozon confirmed that one of its logistics centres was among the facilities targeted, according to the Associated Press.
The Petersburg Oil Terminal has a stated total handling capacity of 12.5 million tonnes annually, according to specifications published on its operator's website. The company describes the facility's business as providing "liquid product handling and storage" services as part of its operations receiving these products and loading them for shipment. The terminal receives products by road, inland waterways and rail, according to its description of the transport links serving the facility. It then loads incoming products onto ships and tankers, linking receiving and storage operations with maritime transport. In a statement on its operations during 2025, the company said it received 5,000,000 tonnes of liquid products by rail. That volume relates to rail deliveries during that year, while the stated annual capacity covers the terminal's total handling operations.
The attack came after Ukraine resumed strikes on energy-related targets following a brief truce announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on 11 October without providing details, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine had attacked a Russian refinery on the Thursday preceding the attack on St. Petersburg, according to the Associated Press. Kyiv said Moscow had failed to observe the truce covering energy targets, citing continued Russian attacks before it resumed its strikes. Agence France-Presse reported that Ukrainian strikes had caused fuel shortages across Russia earlier in the year. The agency also reported Trump's opposition to attacks targeting Russian refineries, amid tensions between Kyiv and Washington over the strikes.
In the oil market, Brent crude futures fell during Monday trading, according to Investing.com, after gains the previous week. Brent futures declined 1.75%, according to the website's tracking of trading that day. The price reached $107.95 a barrel at 02:22 GMT, the time of the price observation cited in the coverage. Crude had risen about 5% in the week preceding Monday's trading before retreating at the start of the new week. The trading followed Trump's announcement on Sunday that he was delaying the implementation of new sanctions on Russia, a decision reported by the Associated Press in its coverage of developments related to energy attacks and U.S. efforts to negotiate.
On the diplomatic front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with U.S. envoys on Sunday, 18 October, in an effort to ease tensions with Washington, according to Agence France-Presse. The talks included Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the agency reported, amid the dispute over Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities. On sanctions, Trump linked the delay in implementing new measures against Moscow to keeping it engaged in negotiations, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. president said he did not want to do anything that would "foolishly drive Russia away from the negotiating table." His comments on Sunday came as Zelensky moved to contain tensions with the United States after the resumption of Ukrainian strikes ended the brief energy truce.