The Ukrainian government has confirmed hitting an oil depot overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia, some 621 miles (approximately 1,000 kilometers) north of the Ukrainian border. In a nice touch, at least one of the drones flew over war criminal and thug Vladimir Putin's residence in Valdai on the way to their target. From the Kyiv Independent:
"Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) hit an oil depot near the Russian city of Saint Petersburg in an overnight drone attack, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Jan. 18, citing an unnamed source in intelligence.
Ukraine’s Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin said later the same day that the drone had been produced in Ukraine, a rare public acknowledgment of an attack on Russian soil by a Ukrainian official."
Other reports indicate that at least one of the drones hitting St. Petersburg flew over war criminal and thug Vladimir Putin's palatial residence at Valdai:
"Ukraine sent a drone flying over President Vladimir Putin's palace at Lake Valdai during an attack on a St Petersburg oil depot, a military source claimed on Friday.
On Thursday, Ukraine sent Ukrainian-produced drones 775 miles into Russian airspace to strike at an oil depot near St Petersburg, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
En route, one of the drones also flew over one of Putin's palaces, an unnamed special services source told Ukrainian news agency RBC." (our emphasis)
Message received?
In a separate attack yesterday, ABC News reports that four oil reservoirs were set ablaze in a Ukrainian drone attack only 40 miles inside Russia:
"Four oil reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic meters (1.6 million gallons) were set on fire when the drone reached Klinsky, a city of some 70,000 people located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the Ukrainian border..."
It also appears that the Kremlin has stopped blaming fires and explosions on fictitious "careless smokers," at least for now.
(photo: St. Petersburg Oil Terminal before attack)
