Ukrainian drones hit Saint Petersburg as Russian economic forum opens

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia, June 4 ------ Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in Saint Petersburg as officials gathered for a flagship economic forum in the city, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.

Some 20,000 guests from 130 countries are set to attend the three-day annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief) — an event once dubbed "Russia's Davos" — which was to begin on Wednesday.

The strikes come a day after a barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 23 people across Ukraine.

Saint Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov said "several" infrastructure facilities were damaged, but no one was killed in the attack. Drones hit the Saint Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Kronstadt military base in the city, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, the latest in a series of retaliatory attacks that Kyiv calls "long-range sanctions." "Ukraine's plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer," he said on social media, posting a video of an oil depot ablaze. The attacks forced Saint Petersburg's main airport to close for hours overnight.

Ukrainian officials said the attack was aimed at disrupting the three-day gathering, which President Vladimir Putin will attend and make a keynote address at on Friday. "The Petersburg forum is opening with a nice plume of black smoke in the background after Ukrainian strikes," said Sergiy Sternenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister.

An Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter saw the smoke visible from the conference venue as delegates gathered for the first sessions. Several flights from Moscow to Saint Petersburg were delayed, an AFP reporter at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport said.

Russia's Davos

Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Spief — previously Moscow's premier economic event for courting Western investment — has been seen as a snapshot of Russia's isolation on the world stage.

In the 2010s, French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan’s late prime minister Shinzo Abe were among those who addressed the forum alongside Putin. Now Russia can only rely on leaders of its closest allies to attend — this year, the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, alongside ministers from the likes of Cuba, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Kremlin's economy envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the forum was a gathering of "sovereign countries," slamming "globalist" rivals like the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The countries of the Global South are building up their economic strength, actively moving toward partnership with Russia and will be strongly represented," he said.

Source: manilatimes.net