Photo credit: The Journal Gazette
Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones on Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war.
AP reports that the strikes came as tensions between Kyiv and Washington deepened, with US President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and the prospect of further US sanctions against Moscow still uncertain.
Trump said Sunday that he decided to hold off on implementing new sanctions on Russia because he didn’t “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”
“I can sign it later, or any time I want!” Trump said of the sanctions.
Trump also lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been critical of Trump’s recent outreach to Putin, for launching strikes on Russian energy infrastructure during the conflict, claiming Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end the war.”
Zelenskyy: Waiving sanctions strengthens Russia.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy said waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin’s war efforts. He also said US-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time.”
Later Sunday, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the results of an Oct. 9 meeting between US and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami, as well as “next steps in diplomacy.”
One person was killed, and five others were wounded in the St. Petersburg attack, which sparked fires at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, local Gov. Alexander Beglov said. A logistics centre belonging to oil retailer Ozon and a data centre operated by Russian tech giant VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea.
