Ukraine hits St. Petersburg as ‘Putin’s Davos’ gets underway

Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russian targets early Wednesday, sending smoke rising above the historic heart of St. Petersburg just as the event dubbed “Putin’s Davos” was due to get underway in the city.

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The attack on President Vladimir Putin’s hometown, which hosts the showcase annual economic forum , was the latest signal from Kyiv that it can strike deep inside enemy territory and seek to embarrass the Kremlin.

With peace talks deadlocked and battlefield progress stalled, the two sides have been exchanging intensifying aerial attacks.

In St. Petersburg, where the International Economic Forum was set to begin later Wednesday, local authorities reported several people were injured as Ukraine said it had struck an oil export terminal.

“Important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X early Wednesday, with the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal among the targets. “Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer,” he said.

Emergency crews were responding to the attacks and assessing damage, St. Petersburg mayor Alexander Beglov said on Telegram.

The broader Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, also came under attack, with Russian air defenses intercepting 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.

Moscow was also targeted, with air defenses downing 13 drones approaching the capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian drone attack came a day after Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in months, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than a hundred across several major cities.

Russia had vowed more intense attacks and warned foreign diplomats to abandon Kyiv. Ukraine appeared to be sending its own message Wednesday, targeting the city hosting one of the Kremlin’s most important international events.

The economic forum in St. Petersburg brings together senior Russian officials, business leaders and foreign delegates each year and serves as a showcase for Putin’s efforts to project economic resilience despite the war and Western sanctions.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that a U.S. delegation would attend the event this week for the first time in many years. It will be led by Rodney Cook, chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts and the man who oversees President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom extension, the Kremlin said.

Right-wing influencer Candace Owens is also set to play a starring role, while other prominent guests include senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.

Separately, seven people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a passenger bus in Russian-occupied territory within Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, said Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed leader of the area.