"144 enemy drones have been shot down over our region," Leningrad Region Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko announced on Telegram, saying that the attack was unprecedented.
Among other things, the shipyard in Kronstadt outside St. Petersburg, which services the Russian Baltic Fleet's ships, was hit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on X.
“Last night, our drones traveled a distance of about 1,000 kilometers to the St. Petersburg region - to the enemy’s naval arsenal and a base in Kronstadt,” he wrote.
This is happening at the same time as the annual international economic conference hosted by Russia is taking place in St. Petersburg.
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin spoke at the forum, which ends on Saturday.
“Must end their war”
In clips on social media this morning, black clouds of smoke were also seen over Ust-Labinsk in Russia's Krasnodar region, according to The Kyiv Independent. Ukraine has attacked and hit an oil depot in the city, Zelenskyy confirmed.
"Russia must end its war and stop its attacks. Every injustice against Ukraine will receive a fair response," the president wrote.
The attacks follow Ukrainian drones striking an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and the base in Kronstadt on Wednesday, just hours before the annual conference opened in the city.
In a meeting with journalists on Thursday, Vladimir Putin touched on the obvious - that Ukraine now has both the ambition and the ability to strike at targets far away in Russia.
When asked by the AP news agency about the Ukrainian drone attacks, he replied that "unfortunately, some of them are breaking through."
"Russia has an air defence system; we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that," Putin said.
In total, Russian forces have shot down nearly 400 Ukrainian drones over the country overnight Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed, according to AFP.
Deaths in Ukraine
In Ukraine, one person was killed and three were injured on Saturday night in Russian drone and artillery attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region, AP said, citing the governor.
In Zaporizhia, seven people were injured in a parking lot during a Russian drone attack.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired a total of 272 drones at the country overnight. 249 of them were shot down by air defenses.
