The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026) is being held from June 3 to 6.
Ukrainian drone attacks on St. Petersburg have left several people wounded, local governor Aleksandr Beglov has said. The wave of strikes coincided with the opening day of Russia’s largest international investment forum, which will host thousands of guests from around the world over the coming days.
UAVs targeted infrastructure in the Kirovsky and Krasnoselsky districts as well in the port of Kronstadt, Beglov wrote in a post on Telegram on Wednesday morning.
Response teams have been deployed to the facilities damaged by the attacks, he added.
The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026), often referred to as the ‘Russian Davos’, is taking place from June 3 to 6 and will be attended by around 20,000 businesspeople, politicians, and public figures from more than 100 nations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the gathering on Friday.
In Leningrad Region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, at least 59 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, local governor Aleksandr Drozdenko has said. Several private homes suffered minor damage due to falling debris, but there were no injuries, he added.
In total, 345 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down across Russia overnight as the country came under another large-scale attack, the Defense Ministry reported.
The interceptions took place over Moscow, Leningrad, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Novgorod, Orel, Pskov, Rostov, Smolensk, Tver, Tula, and Krasnodar regions, as well as over Crimea and the Sea of Azov, the ministry said.
In Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, seven civilians were killed and 11 others wounded when a Ukrainian drone stuck a passenger bus traveling from Crimea to Moscow.
Ukrainian UAVs have targeted Leningrad Region, particularly its energy facilities, on numerous occasions in recent months, with the explosive-laden drones often reaching northwestern Russia via Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland. Some of them have crashed inside the NATO countries.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned previously that if it turns out that the Baltic States and Finland “deliberately provide their airspace” to Ukrainian UAVs, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Image credit: Evgeni Zolotarev
