Ukraine strikes Kronstadt naval base and Leningrad arsenals in 1,000km drone attack timed to St Petersburg forum
Ukrainian drones on Saturday struck Kronstadt — the main base of Russia's Baltic Fleet — and military arsenals in the Leningrad region in what Zelensky described as a 1,000km-range mission; Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko reported more than 140 drones shot down, a fire at a military facility, and resident evacuations, while St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov issued the city's first stay-at-home order since February 2022. Zelensky simultaneously struck a Krasnodar region oil depot 500km away as part of Ukraine's 'long-range sanctions,' and declared the attacks a just response to Russian strikes. The assault fell on the final day of Russia's St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a day after Putin, speaking at the same forum, refused Zelensky's request for direct peace talks.
Ukraine launched what Zelensky described as its longest-range drone operation on Saturday, sending drones over a 1,000km distance to strike Kronstadt — the main outpost of Russia's Baltic Fleet, near St Petersburg — along with military arsenals in the Leningrad region and an oil depot 500km south in the Krasnodar region.
Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko said more than 140 drones were shot down over the region and that a fire had broken out at an unspecified military facility, with residents being evacuated from the surrounding area. He described building damage as 'insignificant.'
St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov issued a stay-at-home order — the city's first since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022 — and urged residents to remain indoors until the threat passed.
Zelensky posted on social media saying it was 'time to end this war,' while accusing Russia's leader of wanting to 'keep fighting.' He described the drones as having targeted 'the enemy navy's arsenals and a base in Kronstadt.' The Krasnodar oil depot strike, he said, was part of Ukraine's 'long-range sanctions' — Kyiv's euphemism for strikes on Russian energy and military infrastructure it views as sustaining Moscow's war effort.
The assault was the second attack on the St Petersburg region in under a week. It landed on the final day of Russia's annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum — known as 'Russia's Davos' — which had drawn guests from 130 countries including a low-key US delegation. The timing appeared deliberate: a day earlier, Putin told the forum there was 'no point' in meeting Zelensky and reiterated that a truce would only allow Ukraine to regroup. He said Russia would end the war only when its goals were met — meaning Ukrainian withdrawal from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and abandonment of NATO membership aspirations. Zelensky had published an open letter Thursday calling for face-to-face negotiations and warning it would be 'wrong to simply wait' for US re-engagement.
In Russian-occupied Luhansk, Moscow-installed authorities suspended coach services on two motorways and banned commuter trains following an intensifying drone campaign against Russian logistics. An analyst told the BBC that Ukrainian drones have destroyed more than 200 lorries and over 30 fuel trucks since the beginning of May.
The Kronstadt strike is the latest in a sustained deep-strike escalation. On June 5, Ukrainian drones struck vessels in Azov Sea ports, killing five Azerbaijani sailors aboard a Russian ship. Kyiv has simultaneously been running what it calls its 'Logistics Lockdown' campaign, doubling strikes on Russian supply lines beyond 50km in occupied territory, supported by 1,600 newly delivered drones, including fiber-optic guided systems.