Russia: Huge flames and smoke rise over St Petersburg after drone strikes

Read the original at Euronews ↗
Cite

Caraco, A. (2026, October 18). Russia: Huge flames and smoke rise over St Petersburg after drone strikes. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/10/18/russia-huge-flames-and-smoke-rise-over-st-petersburg-after-drone-strikes

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Euronews · collected 2026-10-18 · by Alexis Caraco

Quick Summary

Overnight in St Petersburg, Ukraine launched drone strikes targeting multiple locations including Ozon’s logistics center, the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, an oil refinery, and other facilities. Air-defense systems reportedly shot down between 126 to 145 drones; one person died and five were injured. Operations at Pulkovo Airport were temporarily halted for safety reasons. This attack follows President Zelensky's announcement that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian oil infrastructure after a brief suspension.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 18, 2026, St Petersburg was attacked by a Ukrainian drone swarm, resulting in one death and five injuries. The attack targeted oil facilities, including the St Petersburg Oil Terminal and Ruchi oil depot, causing widespread fires and damage to industrial warehouses and a logistics center operated by Russian retailer Ozon. Governor Alexander Beglov reported that Russia’s air defense units shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 regions, Crimea, and the Black Sea. Meanwhile, a woman was killed and at least two others injured in an attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. The conflict escalated as Ukraine resumed attacks on Russian oil infrastructure despite U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a "ceasefire."

Written for “Ukrainian Drone Attacks On St Petersburg” on 2026-10-18, grounded in this article and the 9 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Centre (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: centre for article 88951 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-18

Story

📰 Ukrainian Drone Attacks On St Petersburg
Politics · 10 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads centre and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Russian oil terminal and data centre in St Petersburg ablaze as Kyiv launches massive drone attack after Trump's decision to waive sanctions and 'slow down' satellites same event · 95%
Daily Mail · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 38 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe a single, specific drone attack on St Petersburg involving multiple targets including an oil terminal and data centers, with casualties and damage confirmed by city officials.”
One killed, 15 injured in Ukrainian drone attack on St Petersburg and Leningrad region same event · 95%
The Straits Times · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 12% hedged 1 of 8 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same Ukrainian drone attack on St Petersburg and Leningrad region, with fires at oil facilities, logistics hubs, and data centers occurring on the same date.”
Ukrainian drones strike more than 100km into Russian territory different event · 95%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 60
“The articles describe different drone strikes in separate locations: one in Saratov and another in St Petersburg.”
At least three killed by Russian drones in Ukraine which cut power to 370,000 different event · 95%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 29 📰 publisher trust 69
“The articles describe different drone attacks in separate locations: one in Ukraine and another in St Petersburg, Russia.”
Russia targets energy grid: Russia launches 320 missiles and drones; Zelenskyy warns of winter blackout different event · 95%
Times of India
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 59
“The articles describe different attacks occurring in Ukraine and St Petersburg, Russia on separate dates.”
St Petersburg under attack from Ukrainian drone swarm same event · 95%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same drone attack on St Petersburg, Russia on the same day with similar details including explosions at an oil terminal and fires.”
Blaze at St Petersburg oil sites as Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia same event · 95%
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 20 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe a drone attack on St. Petersburg's oil infrastructure and related facilities, with similar timing and casualties.”
Blaze at St Petersburg oil sites as Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia same event · 95%
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 18 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe a specific large-scale drone attack on St. Petersburg involving multiple targets including an oil terminal, with similar timing and casualty details.”
Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s St Petersburg kills 1, hits energy sites same event · 95%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 24 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on St Petersburg, Russia, involving multiple sites and casualties on the same date.”
Blazes ignite at St. Petersburg oil sites as Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia same event · 95%
CBC News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe a single specific incident of Ukrainian drone attacks on St. Petersburg oil sites, including fires and casualties.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
9
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
1 of 9 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Centre
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
Euronews's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
10
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Euronews · 882 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)
2026-10-01
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Who wrote this

Alexis Caraco
64 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries after briefly suspending them following Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire” on 11 October.
2026-10-18 · assertive framing · Russia: Huge flames and smoke rise over St Petersburg after drone strikes
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🔮 Emergency crews, police, bomb-disposal teams and search dogs remained at the sites, looking for people who may still be trapped.
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Russia pounds Kharkiv and Lviv region with missiles and drones, killing three civilians
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🔮 Police reported no injuries in Soweto and warned that those responsible for violence and destruction would face prosecution.
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Also by Alexis Caraco
France: Paris, Lyon and Marseille count the cost after violent protests
2026-10-18 · Euronews
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2026-10-16 · Euronews
Russian missiles spark huge factory fires in Ukraine’s Odesa and Zaporizhzhia
2026-10-16 · Euronews
Turkey: Worst rainfall in 80 years unleashes deadly floods near Istanbul
2026-10-16 · Euronews
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 64 articles by Alexis Caraco →

Topics

Ozon Russia St Petersburg's Ukraine Ukrainian

Subjects

Russia GPE · 2× Ukraine GPE · 2× Alexander Beglov PERSON · 1× Alexander Drozdenko PERSON · 1× Beglov PERSON · 1× Leningrad Region GPE · 1× Ozon ORG · 1× Ruchyi GPE · 1× St Petersburg's GPE · 1× Ukrainian NORP · 1×

Narrative

St Petersburg's governor, Alexander Beglov, confirmed that air-defence systems had been activated after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the city overnight, while Leningrad Region governor Alexander Drozdenko initially reported that 126 drones had been shot down over the surrounding region.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries after briefly suspending them following Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire” on 11 October.
2026-10-18 · Euronews
Russia: Huge flames and smoke rise over St Petersburg after drone strikes · assertive framing

Claims (9 extracted, 1 hedged)

Footage shared on social media showed a major blaze at a warehouse operated by Ozon, Russia's second-largest online retailer, which said its logistics centre had been struck. asserted
centre → share → Ozon
Other images showed thick smoke rising from the area of the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, while an oil refinery and depot were also reportedly hit. uncertain
refinery → show → Terminal
St Petersburg's governor, Alexander Beglov, confirmed that air-defence systems had been activated after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the city overnight, while Leningrad Region governor Alexander Drozdenko initially reported that 126 drones had been shot down over the surrounding region. asserted
drones → confirm → region
He later raised that figure to 144, with some reports putting it at 145. asserted
reports → raise → 145
The assault set the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot alight and struck infrastructure in several districts of the city. asserted
assault → set → city
Beglov said one person was killed and five others were injured, while operations at Pulkovo Airport were temporarily restricted for safety reasons. asserted
operations → say → reasons
The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries after briefly suspending them following Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire” on 11 October. asserted
Ukraine → come → October
Neither side formally confirmed the arrangement, and Zelensky accused Russia of carrying out 76 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the following week, including strikes on substations in four regions that left tens of thousands of families without power. asserted
that → confirm → power
The latest exchange underlines the continuing struggle over energy infrastructure, with both sides treating refineries, terminals and power grids as central targets in a war that shows no sign of abating. asserted
that → underline → sign
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