Fulfilling the instructions of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Security Service of Ukraine jointly with the Ukrainian Defence Forces – the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, the State Border Guard Service and the Defence Intelligence – have conducted strikes on the infrastructure of the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg. Ukrainian drones also attacked military ships at the Kronstadt Naval Base in the Leningrad oblast, russia.

The St. Petersburg Oil Terminal is one of the largest russian terminals in the Baltic region. It has 21 tanks for storing and transshipping petroleum products. After travelling approximately 1,100 kilometres, the drones hit the tank farm area, where at least four large fires were reported.

Additionally, a strike was carried out in Kronstadt against the mooring site of russian war ships. The results of the strike and the extent of the damage inflicted on the enemy are currently being assessed.

These attacks on the oil facility occurred on the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, whose slogan is ‘Pragmatic Dialogue – The Path to a Stable Future’. Once again, russia has demonstrated its unwillingness to engage in any pragmatic dialogue regarding stopping the war against Ukraine. Consequently, a ‘stable future’ awaits the aggressor state in the form of regular fires at oil refineries, oil depots and terminals, through which the kremlin earns petrodollars to finance its aggression. The longer russia chooses war over peace, the more frequently the facilities funding it will burn.