Drones struck a major Russian fuel terminal on the Gulf of Finland and a military-components plant in Tambov Oblast during the night of 2–3 June, with the Saint Petersburg blaze unfolding as the Kremlin's flagship international business gathering opened in the city.
Residents reported a series of loud explosions and a large fire across the port area of Saint Petersburg shortly after 04:00 local time. The Russian independent Telegram channel Astra geolocated multiple videos of the blaze to JSC Petersburg Oil Terminal, the largest petroleum products transshipment complex in northwestern Russia.
A strategic facility on Putin's showcase day
The terminal sits on the Gulf of Finland at the Great Port of Saint Petersburg. The 37-hectare site holds 21 storage tanks for light and heavy fuels with annual throughput of 12.5 million tons, and Moscow has designated it a facility of strategic importance for national security, Russian outlets reported citing company data, according to RBK.
The strike landed roughly 17 kilometers from the Expoforum complex where the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is convening between 3 and 6 June. The Kremlin uses the annual "Russian Davos" to project economic resilience under Western sanctions imposed over Russia's war on Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the gathering on Friday, 5 June.
Pulkovo Airport, the principal entry point for delegates, delayed 29 departures for more than 2 hours and diverted 9 aircraft to alternate airfields, Russian aviation reporting indicated. City authorities had restricted retail gasoline sales to individuals on the eve of the attack without publicly linking the move to the drone threat.
Missile-components plant hit in Tambov
Drones struck the Progress plant in Michurinsk, roughly 347 kilometers from Ukraine's northeastern border, with Astra geolocating eyewitness footage to the facility. Tambov Oblast Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov confirmed an attack on "outbuildings of an industrial enterprise" without naming the site.
JSC Michurinsk Plant Progress produces high-tech equipment for aviation and missile control systems. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) identifies the plant as a supplier of MP-95 sensors used in Russia's Kh-101 cruise missile production and GMS-01D gyro motors used in Kh-59M2 and Kh-59M2A air-launched missiles. The site was previously struck in February 2026, June 2025, and December 2024.
Russian tallies climbed through the morning
Leningrad Oblast Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko initially reported 3 drones downed at around 04:00, raising the figure to 30 by 06:00 and to 50 by 07:00 as the operation continued. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin separately said more than 20 drones had been intercepted over the Russian capital starting on the evening of 2 June, with airports in Moscow and Leningrad oblasts suspending operations.
Ukraine's General Staff had not publicly claimed the overnight strikes at the time of publication. Saint Petersburg oil and refining infrastructure has been a recurring target of Kyiv's long-range campaign against Russian energy and defense facilities sustaining the war.
