(Reuters) – Ukraine hit targets in Russia during a drone attack on an oil terminal in St Petersburg on Thursday as part of a “new phase” in the region, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters.
Reuters could not independently verify the statement. A Russian-appointed official in occupied southeastern Ukraine said earlier that Ukraine had tried and failed to target a Russian Baltic Sea oil terminal with a drone overnight.
“There are confirmed hits. This is a new stage of work in this region,” the Ukrainian source said.
Nearly two years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the attack shows how Kyiv is trying to strike back, including at targets deep inside Russia.
St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, is located some 850 km (528 miles) from the nearest section of the Ukrainian border.
Kyiv has been trying to develop and produce attack drones with a longer range, to narrow the gap in strike capabilities with Russia, which regularly conducts long-range aerial bombardments of Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Kyiv has used drones and missiles to strike targets on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones)
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