UKRAINE FIRES 1,000+ DRONES AT RUSSIA AS US-KYIV RIFT DEEPENS

Mon 19 October 2026:

St Petersburg oil facilities and warehouses hit; flights disrupted; more than 1,000 drones reportedly downed

At least one person was killed and five others injured when Ukraine carried out one of its biggest aerial attacks of the conflict, launching more than 1,000 drones at targets across Russia.

St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov reported that firefighters were still fighting blazes ignited by Sunday’s strikes on the city’s oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot, and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky district to the south. He described the “massive” strike as having killed at least one person and injured five, with several residential buildings and two houses also damaged.

Operations at St Petersburg’s main airport, among the busiest in the country, were restricted “for safety reasons”, Beglov said. Russian e-commerce firm Ozon reported a fire at its St Petersburg logistics hub, while internet company VK said drones had hit its data centre in the wider Leningrad region, though it confirmed that user services remained normal.

Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko stated that 145 drones had been intercepted and that roughly 20,000 people were left without electricity. Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed 1,015 Ukrainian drones were neutralised overnight across 15 Russian regions, the annexed Crimean peninsula, and the Black Sea.

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US-Ukraine tensions deepen

The attacks unfolded against a backdrop of growing friction between Kyiv and Washington. US President Donald Trump has criticised Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, while the possibility of additional US sanctions on Moscow remains unclear.

On Sunday, Trump defended his Friday decision to pause new sanctions on Russia, saying he did not want to do anything that would “foolishly” drive Moscow “away from the bargaining table”. In a social media post, he argued that fresh sanctions would undermine efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement to Moscow’s war on Ukraine, rejecting bipartisan claims that he was prioritising Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests over Ukraine’s.

Trump also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—who has objected to Trump’s recent contacts with Putin—for targeting Russian energy sites, asserting that Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end this war”.

Trump had announced on 11 October that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”, though he provided no further details. Zelenskyy later told the Financial Times that he was “done” with the ceasefire after a few days, noting that Kyiv had paused strikes on Russian energy facilities while Moscow continued attacking Ukraine.

On X on Sunday, Zelenskyy wrote that Russia had struck Ukraine’s energy, oil, and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Trump’s announcement. He said energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions were hit overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without power, and accused Russia of trying to “cause a blackout”.

“America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” he said.

Since the American President announced the energy ceasefire a week ago, Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine’s energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times. Last night alone, there were strikes on substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Odesa regions. Tens of… pic.twitter.com/rTM47VBJhp

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2026

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Zelenskyy warned that easing sanctions on Russia would bolster Putin’s war effort. He added that US-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time”. While stating that he trusted Trump, Zelenskyy cautioned that aligning with Moscow would be a tragedy and a “historic mistake” for Washington.

Later on Sunday, Zelenskyy posted that he had spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the outcome of an 9 October meeting between Washington and Kyiv’s negotiating teams in Miami, as well as the “next steps in diplomacy”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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