Russian authorities reported that air defences intercepted 50 drones over the Leningrad region, located northwest of Moscow, overnight, and said they were continuing to repel what they described as suspected Ukrainian attacks, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Wednesday. The Leningrad region, which hosts important energy export infrastructure and a major oil refinery, is the site of a large investment forum in St. Petersburg that opens this week.
The economic conference, often described in Russian state messaging as President Vladimir Putin's "Russian Davos", begins on Wednesday in St. Petersburg. It is the fifth forum held since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. The forum opened just hours after a significant Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv that Moscow said was in response to a deadly attack on a dormitory in Russian-controlled Luhansk.
Organisers list President Putin as delivering the keynote address on Friday. The session is scheduled to include the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, China's vice president and Saudi Arabia's energy minister, according to the published schedule. The event is also expected to attract a range of international figures, with organisers indicating attendance by a right-leaning U.S. influencer, a serving U.S. official and a German retail billionaire.
Operational impacts were felt in St. Petersburg. Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation watchdog, said on the Telegram messaging app that Pulkovo airport was temporarily imposing flight restrictions. Local media reported that more than 30 flights were delayed or cancelled. Alexander Beglov, governor of St. Petersburg, told the RIA news agency that the city had implemented broad security measures ahead of the forum and that law enforcement agencies had allocated personnel and equipment to ensure public safety and order.
Officials provided additional details on related incidents across Russia and Russian-controlled areas. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that at least 20 drones bound for Moscow had been shot down overnight. In the southern Russian region, Ukrainian forces struck the Ilsky export oil refinery on Tuesday with drones, according to the reporting. In the central Tambov region, the governor said outbuildings at an industrial facility in the city of Michurinsk were damaged.
There were also cross-border alerts: the National Armed Forces of Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, briefly issued an airspace violation alert for the municipality of Aluksne near the Russian border on Wednesday morning before withdrawing it.
In a separate account, Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed head of the Donetsk region, said a Ukrainian drone strike killed seven people and injured 11 in a Russian-controlled area of eastern Donetsk. He said the drone struck a passenger bus travelling between Moscow and Simferopol in territory of Russian-occupied Crimea. Reuters was not able to independently verify all of those reports.
This sequence of reported strikes and air-defence actions coincided with the opening of a high-profile investment forum in St. Petersburg and prompted local authorities to emphasise security readiness across the city. The events, as described by official statements and regional reports, underline an elevated operational tempo in and around areas that host key energy assets and transport hubs.