ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine struck an oil export terminal in St Petersburg hours before President Vladimir Putin’s annual economic forum got under way in an attempt to embarrass the Kremlin chief and show how vulnerable Russia’s big cities are.
The attack on St Petersburg, Putin’s home city, and the location of his own ‘Davos’ – a showcase economic forum designed to attract foreign investment and show Russia at its best, comes as both sides dial up strikes on each other in the more than four-year-old war with no imminent end in sight.
A plume of smoke was visible from the historic city centre where an oil export terminal had been hit and Reuters correspondents reported hearing loud explosions on Wednesday morning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed his drones had struck the fuel terminal and said they had also targeted a military facility near what is Russia’s second city.
Alexander Beglov, the governor of St Petersburg, said that unspecified “infrastructure objects” had been hit in three different districts of the city. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the wider Leningrad region, said air defences had shot down 59 drones overnight.
The city’s Pulkovo airport had to temporarily restrict flights, Russia’s aviation watchdog said, and more than 30 flights were delayed or cancelled, local news outlets said.
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Maxim Rodionov/Andrew Osborn Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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