On the night of 18 October 2026, St Petersburg in Russia came under a massive drone attack, which caused a fire at the «St Petersburg Oil Terminal» – one of the largest oil product transhipment complexes in the Baltic region. Russian Governor Alexander Beglov officially confirmed the fire at the facility and at other sites across the city. According to reports from OSINT sources, the strike hit the tank farm where petroleum products are stored prior to export. As a result of the attack, operations at Pulkovo Airport were temporarily restricted, and power cuts were reported in some areas.
- Drones launched a massive attack on St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
- The Russian authorities have confirmed a fire at the «St Petersburg Oil Terminal».
- The terminal has a throughput capacity of up to 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum products per year.
- Fires were also reported in several districts of St Petersburg.
Fire at an oil terminal in St Petersburg following a drone attack
On the night of Saturday 18 October, residents of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region reported numerous explosions, the activation of Russian air defences and fires at industrial sites. According to a monitoring channel Exilenova+, One of the targets of the attack was the «St Petersburg Oil Terminal», situated in the Big Port of St Petersburg.
A large-scale fire broke out on the complex’s premises following the strikes. Footage shared on social media shows intense flames and thick plumes of black smoke. OSINT analysts report that the fire broke out in the vicinity of the tank farm. According to preliminary information, one of the storage tanks for petroleum products may have been damaged.
The Russian authorities have confirmed a fire at the factory
Governor of St Petersburg Oleksandr Beglov acknowledged that a large-scale drone attack had taken place on the city. He reported that the emergency services were extinguishing fires at the «St Petersburg Oil Terminal» and at other city infrastructure sites. According to him, fires broke out in the Nevsky, Krasnoselsky, Krasnogvardeisky and Moskovsky districts.
Due to the threat of further attacks, temporarily Restrictions have been placed on aircraft arrivals and departures at Pulkovo Airport. Beglov also warned residents of possible disruptions to mobile internet services. According to him, there have been no fatalities.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Leningrad Region Oleksandr Drozdzenko claimed that 126 drones had allegedly been shot down over the region. There is no independent confirmation of this figure.
What is known about the St Petersburg oil terminal
«St Petersburg Oil Terminal» is one of Russia’s major logistics complexes, providing storage and transhipment services for petroleum products in the Baltic region. The facility receives petroleum products by various modes of transport, stores them in tanks and arranges for their subsequent shipment to seagoing vessels.
Key features of the complex:
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12.5 million tonnes per year — the terminal’s stated throughput capacity.
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31 tanks — the number of tanks according to figures released by the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces in June.
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324,000 m³ — the total capacity of the tanks, according to the same data.
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The Baltic Sea is the main route for the shipment of products by sea.
The terminal plays a significant role in Russia’s exports of petroleum products. Damage to the storage tanks or transhipment equipment could disrupt its operations.
The oil terminal had already been attacked in June and July
This isn’t the first time attack on St Petersburg’s oil infrastructure during 2026.
On the night of 3 June, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, together with other units of the Defence Forces, attacked the St Petersburg oil terminal. The Ukrainian military subsequently officially confirmed that the facility had been hit and that large-scale fires had broken out following a series of strikes.
In July, the facility came under drone attack once again. Both Russian and Ukrainian sources reported damage to the oil infrastructure.
The night-time attack on 18 October took place against the backdrop of the resumption of Ukrainian long-range strikes on the Russian energy sector.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine reserves the right to respond to Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
A VK data centre was also attacked in St Petersburg
In addition to the oil terminal, the following were affected during the night-time attack data centre the Russian company VK in the Leningrad Region.
Company representatives confirmed the attack on the data centre, but stated that their online services continue to operate as normal. At the same time, outage monitoring services have recorded an increase in the number of user complaints regarding the performance of the social network «VKontakte».
In some areas of St Petersburg and the surrounding region, residents reported power cuts. According to local authorities, some of the brief power cuts were caused by debris from drones falling onto power lines.
