Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia on Sunday in one of its largest aerial bombardments ever, setting an oil export terminal ablaze in St Petersburg, local officials said.
Moscow said it downed 1,015 drones over 15 Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black Sea. The raid followed Kyiv’s confirmation on Thursday that it had resumed strikes on Russian oil after a three-day pause, and came as US President Donald Trump criticised Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, according to multiple agencies.
Governor Alexander Beglov said fires broke out at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot. One person was killed, while reports put the number of wounded at between five and 15. Retailer Ozon said its logistics centre was on fire, and tech firm VK said its data centre in the Leningrad region had been attacked, though services ran as normal. Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point said the military had struck the VK facility.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS news agency Russia was constantly responding to Ukrainian attacks with systematic, large-scale strikes. “The Kyiv regime is resisting. But this cannot change the course of events,” he said.
Two Russian attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and wounded at least two other people, including a six-year-old girl, local officials said. Regional military administration head Mykhailo Semikin said two apartment buildings, 18 cars and an educational institution were damaged.
Trump announced on October 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”, without giving details, and Kyiv reported Russian attacks on energy sites afterwards. Ukraine initially said it was heeding the truce. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had hit Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since, including overnight strikes on four regions, while tens of thousands of families remained without power. “It is Russia that must face pressure for peace to have a chance,” he said.
In Washington, Trump on Friday signed an executive order waiving sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act, a law he signed last month, days before the measures were due to take effect. The move drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president would take up to 60 days to weigh the economic impact, while Trump told reporters on Saturday he had yet to announce a final decision. The waiver comes weeks before November’s midterm elections, with Trump under pressure over high energy prices as the war with Iran disrupts global oil supplies.
Republican Senator Darline Graham, whose late brother Lindsey championed the law, said she disagreed with the decision. Zelensky warned the waiver would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and prolong the war.
Rubio also defended a separate deal under which Russia will supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the United States initially, with further shipments in November and beyond, to ease fuel prices. “That diesel is going to be sold one way or the other,” he said.
Rubio also said Ukraine currently has no access to Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink, but that Kyiv’s request to use it for deep strikes inside Russia was “under discussion”. He rejected Zelensky’s suggestion that a Starlink disruption on Wednesday was deliberate, calling claims the White House ordered a slowdown “categorically false”. Zelensky had said satellites were not tracking antennas on objects moving faster than 161 kilometres per hour (100 mph), hampering Ukrainian drones.
Further south, in the Russian-held city of Oleshky, fewer than 2,000 people remain without electricity, heat or running water. Pope Leo XIV urged Putin in a call on Friday to agree a ceasefire for aid and evacuations, but no deal has been reached, the UN rights office said.
