From Friday night into Saturday morning, July 4, a series of drone strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities across multiple Russian regions, including the Leningrad and Belgorod regions, while additional drone activity was reported near the capital Moscow.
In St. Petersburg, local residents reported powerful explosions and subsequent fires at an industrial site. Monitoring channels and open-source intelligence analysts recorded multiple fires at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal located within the city’s port.
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The facility is one of the largest in the Baltic region, containing 21 storage reservoirs with an annual processing capacity of 12.5 million tons of oil products.
Additionally, Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported that drone debris fell in the port of Vysotsk on the Baltic Sea, situated 90 kilometers from St. Petersburg. The port infrastructure includes a Lukoil oil terminal.
Overall, Russian authorities stated that air defenses intercepted 67 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Leningrad region on Saturday morning.
Power and water outages in Belgorod
Simultaneous strikes were reported in the southern Russian city of Belgorod. Overnight July 3-4, explosions resulted in widespread electricity and water supply disruptions. Belgorod Governor Alexander Shuvayev characterized the incident as a “massive strike” that damaged local infrastructure.
Local media reported that the strikes triggered a fire at the Luch thermal power plant, where emergency response teams were subsequently deployed.
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This weekend incident follows a previous attack on Friday, July 3, which damaged a 110 kV substation at the Michurinskaya gas-turbine thermal power plant in Belgorod. The Friday strike caused similar utility outages and damaged nearby vehicles. The Michurinskaya facility was previously targeted during an attack in February.
Moscow defenses and prior refinery strikes
The regional attacks coincided with drone activity approaching the Russian capital. Early on Saturday, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that air defenses intercepted a wave of 16 drones flying toward the city. Emergency services were dispatched to manage falling debris, with no immediate official reports of casualties or significant structural damage.
The coordinated weekend strikes follow a confirmed operation by the Ukrainian military on Thursday targeting the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Preliminary assessments indicate that the strike damaged the AVT-6 primary oil processing unit, triggering a fire on the premises.
The Kstovo facility is Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery and ranks second nationally in gasoline production. It processes approximately 15 million tons of oil annually and serves as a primary fuel supplier for the Moscow region.
Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin stated that the Thursday attack involved approximately 30 drones, resulting in one fatality, four injuries, and minor damage to surrounding residential and industrial structures.
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