A display promoting the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum early Wednesday as black smoke rises in the background from a Ukrainian drone strike on a major oil export terminal, southwest of the city. Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA
June 3 (UPI) -- Ukrainian drones struck targets in and around the Russian city of St. Petersburg early Wednesday ahead of a major international business and investment conference hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and due to be attended by representatives from 130 countries.
Footage showed loud blasts and delegates arriving for the showcase St. Petersburg International Economic Forum amid a backdrop of black smoke billowing from the nearby St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, one of the country's largest one fuel storage and export facilities.
Flights were disrupted at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport with dozens delayed or diverted to other airports while the governor of the surrounding Leningrad province, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said that air defenses had downed 59 drones over the region.
Parts of neighboring Latvia and Estonia issued air raid warnings.
