It was the second such attack in days and came just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin spoke at an economic forum in the city. Listen · 3:41 min Share full articlePresident Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke Friday at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.Credit...Anastasia Barashkova/ReutersBy Neil MacFarquhar Ukraine hit a Russian military base and other targets near St. Petersburg with a barrage of long-range drones early Saturday, just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin, addressing an important annual economic forum in the city, rejected a peace overture by his Ukrainian counterpart. The Russian authorities called the attack “unprecedented,” with Gov. Aleksandr Drozdenko of the Leningrad region around the city announcing that more than 140 drones had been shot down. The attack ignited a fire at an unspecified military facility, causing “insignificant” damage and the evacuation of some residents, he said. In an unusual move since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, urged residents to shelter indoors. Falling drone debris from an attack elsewhere, in the Tver region, killed a man, while three people were injured in the St. Petersburg area, officials said. Mr. Beglov described the injuries as “minor” and said that Russian air defenses had prevented any serious damage. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, writing on X, stressed the distance that the drones had flown, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), to strike a naval base at Kronstadt, on an island just west of St. Petersburg, as well as a naval arsenal. “It is time to end this war,” Mr. Zelensky said in his post. “But Russia’s ruler wants to keep fighting.”
Original Source: NYTimes
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