New satellite imagery captures an oil terminal burning and fire crews tending to a damaged warship near St. Petersburg after Ukrainian forces struck the city during the opening day of Russia’s Davos.
The Ukrainian military said Wednesday that it carried out strikes on the St. Petersburg oil terminal, the nearby Kronstadt naval port, and other military-linked targets in Russia.
Imagery captured by the US spatial intelligence firm Vantor shows a large plume of smoke at the oil terminal, which is a major facility for Russian fuel exports to the Baltic Sea. It sits nearly 700 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian officials have said that repeated strikes on Russia’s energy sector are part of a long-running campaign designed to deny Moscow of critical export revenue used to support its war efforts. They also wield psychological power. A month ago, Kyiv agreed not to attack near the Kremlin during the annual Victory Day parade overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian military said the St. Petersburg oil terminal is one of the “largest transshipment complexes for petroleum products” in the Baltic region.
Additional imagery shared with Business Insider shows the damaged Steregushchy-class corvette Boikiy in a dry dock at Kronstadt, along with fire crews tending to the burning warship with high-pressure water cannons. Kronstadt is an island near St. Petersburg in the Gulf of Finland.
Footage shared by the Ukrainian military shows one drone targeting the corvette, with another capturing a fire after an initial strike. The Boikiy was commissioned in 2013 and had escorted Russian so-called “shadow fleet” vessels that transport sanctioned oil before entering maintenance earlier this year.
The large-scale Ukrainian attack also targeted a weapons production facility in Russia’s central Tambov region and an airfield in the occupied Crimean peninsula.
“I thank our warriors for their precision,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that the “plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer.”
The Ukrainian strikes came on the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event hosted in Putin’s hometown.
The flagship forum, often referred to as Russia’s version of Davos, is set to bring together roughly 20,000 people, including business and government leaders, in St. Petersburg. President Donald Trump has sent a US delegation, and Putin is scheduled to speak on Friday.
Russia has hosted the SPIEF for decades, but many Western guests, including heads of state, opted not to attend after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has used the forum to showcase the Kremlin’s views and its economic deals with allies.
Ukraine’s ability to strike St. Petersburg during such a high-profile event raises questions about Russian air defenses. At least one video shared on social media appears to show local police officers open fire with small arms at a Ukrainian drone.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in Kyiv on Wednesday that Ukraine “is now so successful that Putin is only able to organize a 9th of May parade with an official presidential decree” by Zelenskyy.
Ukraine, Rutte said at a press conference alongside Zelenskyy, “is increasingly successful — both when it comes to the front line, but also when it comes to making sure you are able to take out some of the key capabilities and capacities of the Russians to continue with the war.”
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