Ukraine launches fresh drone attack on St. Petersburg region on final day of ‘Russian Davos’

Ukraine on Saturday fired hundreds of drones targeting the St. Petersburg region in the second such attack on Russia’s second-largest city in less than a week. The attack came on the final day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Vladimir Putin’s annual investment forum known as “Russia’s Davos”.

Issued on: 06/06/2026 - 
By: FRANCE 24

Satellite image provided by Vantor shows fire crews working to control the fires onboard the Russian guided-missile corvette Boikiy at the Kronstadt naval base west of St. Petersburg, Russia, June 3, 2026. Vantor via AP

Residents of St. Petersburg were told not to leave their homes after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted Russia’s second-largest city Saturday morning, underscoring Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia.

The attack came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin refused an offer to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov advised the residents not to go outside and warned of possible disruptions to mobile internet service, while regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko said 141 drones were shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 376 Ukrainian drones.

“Last night, our drones covered a distance of about 1,000 kilometres to the St. Petersburg region – to the enemy navy’s arsenals and a base in Kronstadt,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

Although no casualties were immediately reported, the renewed attack on St. Petersburg is the latest embarrassing blow to Putin’s efforts to cast the conflict as a distant event that doesn’t affect Russian daily life.

Cars are seen parked near banners with branding for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) at the forum's venue as black smoke rises in distance in Saint Petersburg on June 3, 2026, where Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites. © AFP
02:03

A Ukrainian drone strike set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and hit a nearby naval base Wednesday, hours before the opening of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin’s annual showcase for investment.

Speaking at the forum, Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defences to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over the event in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Putin on Friday rejected a proposal by Zelensky for a face-to-face meeting on the four-year-old conflict, saying he sees “no point” in it. Thursday’s letter, the first public message Zelensky has written directly to Putin since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power, as well as some taunts about his age.

Responding to Putin's dismissal of the proposed meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Saturday that things would “only get worse for Russia.”

"Failures will get more humiliating," he wrote on X, warning that there are “no safe places in Russia that can be exempt” from Ukrainian long-range attacks, and that the intensity of attacks “will continue to grow.”

With the front line barely moving as swarms of drones hinder advances, both sides have sought an edge by launching long-range strikes.

In Ukraine, one person was killed and three wounded overnight into Saturday in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as Russian forces struck three districts nearly 30 times with drones and artillery, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said.

In Zaporizhzhia, seven people sought medical care after a Russian drone strike started a fire at a parking lot, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.

Russia targeted Ukraine overnight with 272 strike drones, and air defences shot down 249 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Ukraine banks on its defence industry to drive economic growth

06.06.2026, DPA

Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa

Ukraine regards its defence industry as a lasting source of economic strength, Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said on Saturday.

“The demand we have created in Ukraine has given rise to an economic sector that is now practically booming. It is therefore a very important part of our future,” Marchenko said at the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Riga. 

The key now is to strengthen the industry, provide it with development capacity and open up its military potential to a broader market, he explained. To this end, Ukraine is facing the decision to allow the export of military goods.

According to Marchenko, expanding and utilizing this potential could lead to more than just further progress in military equipment and weapons. 

“I believe these developments can help create a natural civilian environment after the war. Because some of the production we currently use for military purposes can also be used for civilian purposes,” the Ukrainian official added.

With Western assistance, Ukraine is defending itself against a Russian invasion – and, in the fifth year of its defensive struggle, is regarded as a world leader in drone warfare. 

At the same time, the government in Kiev hopes to receive the first tranche of funds from a €90 billion ($105.5 billion) European Union loan as early as June, which is also to be used for defence purposes. Given the ongoing war, it is quite problematic and difficult to attract private investors, said Marchenko.

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH