# Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg oil port and VK data center, causing fires and power cuts

*Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 6:18 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-10-18T06:18:52.391Z (50m ago)
**Category**: conflict | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 9/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/20874.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: A large overnight Ukrainian drone strike on St. Petersburg reportedly hit an oil terminal, a VKontakte data center, a power substation and a bridge, leading to fires, blackouts and disruption at Pulkovo airport.

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on St. Petersburg pushed the war deep into Russia’s economic and digital infrastructure, with reported hits on an oil terminal, a major data center and a key bridge.

Battlefield channels and Russian social media on 18 October reported that Ukrainian drones struck targets in and around Russia’s second‑largest city. The reported targets included the Ruchyi oil storage facility and a nearby oil port area, a data center serving VKontakte (VK), the 330 kV power substation that supplies that site, and a cable‑stayed bridge between Vasilyevsky and Kanonersky islands in Leningrad region.

One large warehouse facility of the e‑commerce company Ozon in St. Petersburg was also reported on fire. By mid‑morning, official Russian agencies had not issued a full public damage assessment.

Details about the VK data center underline the scale of the digital infrastructure affected. Ukrainian reporting identified the facility as VK ЦОД “ИЦВА,” describing it as having a design capacity of 63 megawatts and more than 3,800 server racks. Damage to the data center and its dedicated high‑voltage substation reportedly caused widespread disruptions to VK services and power outages in nearby residential districts.

Civil aviation in St. Petersburg was also disrupted. Messages circulating on Russian channels said Pulkovo airport authorities asked people not to travel to the airport because of flight delays and schedule changes linked to the overnight security incident. Passengers already in the terminal were evacuated to shelters and given sleeping mats.

Ukrainian sources framed the chosen targets as part of a campaign against Russian energy, logistics and communications infrastructure on Russian soil. Oil terminals and storage facilities feed domestic fuel supply and export flows, while large data centers support social networks and other IT services. Striking a 63‑megawatt data facility and an oil storage site in one raid highlights how energy and digital nodes are both being drawn into the conflict.

The depth of the reported strike package into Russian territory again raises questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s air defenses around St. Petersburg, a city that hosts major shipyards, defense plants and command infrastructure for the Baltic region. If drones can reach oil facilities, data centers and bridges there, Russian planners may face pressure to redeploy additional air‑defense systems away from the front lines.

The timing also overlaps with political discussion of limiting attacks on energy infrastructure. Recent overviews circulating in wartime commentary described a failed attempt to secure mutual restraint in strikes on energy sites between Russia and Ukraine. In practice, Russia has continued to hit Ukrainian power facilities, and Ukraine has carried out deeper drone raids into Russian territory, including against an oil port in St. Petersburg.

Key signals to watch now are whether Russian authorities publicly acknowledge detailed damage in St. Petersburg, how quickly VK restores full service from its affected data center, and whether there are visible changes in air‑defense deployments or longer‑term flight restrictions around the city. Further Ukrainian drone strikes on northern Russian infrastructure, or Russian retaliation against Ukrainian energy assets, would indicate whether this was an isolated operation or part of a broader campaign.