Ukraine launches 1,000 drones at Russia, attacks set St. Petersburg oil facilities ablaze
Smoke billowed on Sunday at an oil export terminal and depot in St. Petersburg, which was set ablaze after Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia. It was one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war.
At least one person was killed, and five others were wounded in the attack in St. Petersburg, which sparked fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, local Gov. Alexander Beglov said.
A logistics center belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center operated by Russian tech giant VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed.
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Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass that Kyiv was “resisting” Moscow’s invasion but could not “change the current course of events.”
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, a woman was killed and a 6-year-old girl was among at least two other people wounded in two Russian attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, local officials said Sunday.
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The strikes came as tensions between Ukraine and Washington deepened. President Trump has recently been critical of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
Meanwhile, there is still uncertainty about the prospect of further U.S. sanctions on Moscow.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Zelenskyy said waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin’s war effort. He also said U.S.-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time.”
Mr. Trump told reporters late Saturday that they did not know what his decision on further sanctions against Russia would be, despite signing an executive order Friday night waiving planned restrictions, citing U.S. national interests.
Zelenskyy said that while he trusted Mr. Trump, siding with Moscow would be a tragedy and a “historic mistake” for Washington.
“People want to forget what’s going on. But we can’t give this possibility to forget, or to change reality, or to change the truth,” Zelenskyy said. “We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist. And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”
Later Sunday, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had spoken with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the results of an Oct. 9 meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami, as well as “next steps in diplomacy.”
Olena Znak/Anadolu via Getty Images 
He also accused Moscow of breaking Mr. Trump’s “energy ceasefire” 76 times and warned that Russia planned to deprive Ukrainians of heat and electricity before winter.
The Ukrainian government initially said it was observing the ceasefire.
Energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions were struck overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without power, he said, accusing Russia of trying to cause a blackout.
“America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements. On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting,” he wrote.
