SAINT PETERSBURG: Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse for a Russian e-commerce giant near Saint Petersburg early Friday, triggering a fire that sent smoke pouring over the historic city, according to local officials and an AFP reporter.
Kyiv has targeted Saint Petersburg as it steps up long-range drone strikes on Russian energy, military and logistics sites in recent weeks, calling the attacks justified retribution for Moscow’s nightly drone and missile barrages of its cities.
Russia’s defense ministry said its forces shot down some 571 drones overnight over more than a dozen regions and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
In Saint Petersburg, an AFP reporter saw grey smoke rising into the morning sky over high-rise residential buildings in the city, President Vladimir Putin’s hometown that is more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The local governor reported that a warehouse for Wildberries — Russia’s largest online retailer often referred to as “Russia’s Amazon” — was on fire after the strike.
