Ukraine drones hit oil facility in St Petersburg

Moscow: A Ukrainian drone attack struck an oil terminal in Russia’s St Petersburg on Saturday, officials said, as Kyiv intensified long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Governor Alexander Beglov said the attack hit the Kirovsky district on the Baltic Sea, while Russian air defences shot down 72 Ukrainian drones over the city and surrounding region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike formed part of Ukra­ine’s “long-range sanctions” campaign. He said Ukrainian forces also hit a military target on Kronstadt island, off the coast of St Petersburg.

Russia’s oil infrastructure has come under frequent Ukrainian drone attacks, disrupting fuel supplies and increasing pressure on the Kremlin as the war enters its fifth year. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the attacks as “not critical” and said military operations would continue until Moscow achieved its objectives. He claimed Russ­ian forces had captured Kostya­ntynivka in eastern Uk­raine, a claim Zelenskyy reje­cted as “another Russian lie”.

Authorities in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia said a Russian strike wounded eight people, including two child­ren, after hitting residential buildings.

IAEA warns over N-plant outages

International Atomic Energy Agency said the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost its external power supply for the 21st time since the war began, forcing emergency diesel generators to maintain reactor cooling systems and underscoring continued nuclear safety concerns.

Russia claims 8,400 civilian deaths

Russia said Ukrainian military attacks have killed nearly 8,500 civilians since February 2022. Russian Foreign Minis­try Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said 30,913 civilians had been injured or killed, including 8,434 fatalities, while 373 children had died and 1,845 were injured since 2014.   —Agencies