Ukraine blitzes St Petersburg oil port ahead of economic forum hosted by Putin in city today as tide of war continues to turn Kyiv’s way

Ukraine staged a massive attack on St Petersburg today ahead of a major economic forum hosted by Vladimir Putin in the city.

Volodymyr Zelensky brought the war to the dictator’s birthplace setting ablaze a key oil terminal.

Thick black noxious smoke rose over St Petersburg after repeated explosions rocked the port.

There were reports that the nearby naval base of Kronstadt had also been targeted with up to four ships hit.

The governor of St Petersburg Alexander Beglov admitted a strike on ‘infrastructure facilities’ at Kronstadt, principal naval base for the Russian Baltic Fleet.

‘Cleanup and recovery operations are currently underway. Several people have been injured,’ he said.

‘There are no fatalities.’

The attack came hours before the opening of the landmark St. Petersburg International Economic Forum [SPIEF], involving high profile foreign guests from 76 countries, including the US but not most other NATO states.

Known as ‘Russia’s Davos’, it is Putin’s main annual flagship event showcasing investment projects, business agreements and projecting Russia’s international relevance amid Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s air defences singularly failed to protect the port, just 12 miles from the forum venue.

Russian sources accused — without offering proof — that NATO states on the Baltic had opened their airspace to Ukraine to stage today’s attack.

In the past states such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland have strongly denied doing so.

The massive attack made a mockery of the forum’s theme: ‘Pragmatic dialogue – the path to a stable future.’

‘We’ve been bombed for over two hours with thunderous explosions,’ said a woman resident living close to the terminal.

Putin’s governor of Leningrad region Aleksandr Drozdenko said 50 Ukrainian drones had been shot down, while failing to acknowledge the strikes on the oil port which were visible from across the city.

There was a massive delay in flights at the city’s Pulkovo airport, with 30 services impacted.

Drones were seen flying in sight of the giant 1,516ft Lakhta Centre, the highest building in the city, before striking targets.

The St Petersburg Oil Terminal is one of Russia’s most important Baltic Sea fuel-export hubs, handling millions of tonnes of petroleum products each year through rail-fed storage tanks and sea-tanker berths in the city’s main port.

Putin is due to attend the forum on Thursday but his daughters were due to speak today — Maria Vorontsova, 41, an endocrinologist leading the dictator’s drive for longevity, and Katerina Tikhonova, 39, a former rock’n’roll dancer with rising control over Russian science and technology.

Controversial self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate flew to Russia on Tuesday as a Putin guest at the key economic forum.

Separately, Russia accused Ukraine of killing seven on an attack on a bus on the Moscow-Simferopol route in occupied Donetsk.

Another 11 were wounded, said reports.

A Russian weapons plant was in flames in Michurinsk, Tambov region.

The Progress Plant produces high-tech aviation and missile control systems, along with equipment for gas and oil pipelines.

Today’s strikes followed Russia’s attack a day earlier involving 656 drones and 73 missiles which killed at least 22 people and wounded 138 across Ukraine, with Dnipro suffering the highest death toll and Kyiv reporting around 90 casualties.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow