Drones Struck A Major Bridge In St. Petersburg

New details on the aftermath of the successful attack.

In St. Petersburg The "St. Petersburg Oil Terminal" is on fire following a drone attack.

This was reported by ASTRA.

First details

A red alert due to UAVs in the Leningrad Region was declared after midnight. At the same time, residents of the region and St. Petersburg reported explosions and air defense activity, and complained that they had not received alerts about the attack. ASTRA readers reported seeing the glow of the fire.

An ASTRA OSINT expert determined from video sent by readers that the fire broke out at the “St. Petersburg Oil Terminal,” located in the southeast of St. Petersburg at 32 Elevatornaya Ploshchadka.

According to the company’s website, this is one of the largest terminals for the transshipment of liquid cargo in the Baltic region. Its grounds house 21 storage tanks for petroleum products, and the terminal’s total throughput capacity is 12.5 million metric tons per year.

Partial blackout

In addition, the VKontakte data center and the Vostochnaya power substation in St. Petersburg were attacked, and the city is experiencing a partial blackout.

There are reports of widespread disruptions on the social network following the attack on VKontakte’s data center. An ASTRA OSINT expert, after analyzing a video sent in by readers, confirmed that it was indeed the data center that was attacked, as well as a nearby substation.

They are located in the village of Novosergievka in the Vsevolozhsky District of the Leningrad Region, on the administrative border with St. Petersburg.

Users are complaining about serious disruptions to the “VKontakte” platform and its associated services.

The company’s press office confirmed the attack but assures users that the services are operational: “A drone attack was carried out on the VK data center in the Leningrad Region. VK services are available to users as usual.”

Information from Russian authorities

The governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, later reported that 126 UAVs had been shot down and confirmed “fires” on the grounds of the “St. Petersburg Oil Terminal.”

The St. Petersburg Oil Terminal is on fire

“Currently, EMERCOM forces are extinguishing fires at civilian infrastructure facilities in the Nevsky, Krasnoselsky, Krasnogvardeisky, and Moskovsky districts, as well as on the grounds of the ‘St. Petersburg Oil Terminal.’ For safety reasons, operations at Pulkovo Airport have been restricted. There are no casualties. Mobile internet service may be disrupted,” Beglov said.

Meanwhile, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports that two people were injured in a fire in the Moskovsky District of St. Petersburg, which began at 4:09 a.m., but does not specify the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, Pulkovo Airport is asking passengers not to arrive at the airport early and notes that the flight schedule for today is still being adjusted. Earlier, passengers and staff were asked to take shelter.

Collision with a bridge

It is also reported that a drone struck a cable-stayed bridge across the Korabelnaya Fairway in St. Petersburg.

This moment was captured on video sent in by ASTRA readers. An ASTRA OSINT expert confirmed that the explosion occurred on the bridge spanning the Korabelnaya Fairway (official name). The distance from the bridge to the “St. Petersburg Oil Terminal,” which is on fire following a drone attack, is approximately 4.5 km.

This is a steel cable-stayed road bridge in St. Petersburg, part of the southern flyover of the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHD)—a toll highway connecting the southern and northern parts of the city. The bridge connects the Kirovsky and Vasileostrovsky districts, or Beliy and Vasilyevsky Islands.

It is 622 meters long and 39 meters wide (8 lanes). Construction of the bridge began in 2013, and it opened on December 4, 2016.

The extent of the damage is being assessed.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com