Ukraine Launches Over 1,000 Drones At Russia, Hitting Oil Depots, Amid Trump’s Demand For Energy Ceasefire
By Mark Tanos
Ukrainian forces unleashed more than 1,000 drones on Russia overnight Sunday, setting oil depots in St. Petersburg ablaze in one of the war’s largest aerial assaults.
Fires erupted at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, killing one person and injuring five, St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov said, Reuters reported. Twelve apartment buildings and two houses took damage, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Drones also hit a VK data center, an Ozon warehouse and a city bridge, according to ABC News, which said strikes on two substations in Yanino cut power to about 20,000 residents. Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point said its FP-1 model struck the terminal, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it downed 1,015 drones across 15 regions, Crimea and the Black Sea, the New York Post reported. (RELATED: Ukraine Restarts The Refinery Strikes Trump Blames For High Diesel Prices)
The assault came days after President Donald Trump eased pressure on Moscow. Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on Oct. 11 and signed an order Friday waiving the Graham Act sanctions, a package that would have widened measures against Russia’s oil and gas industry, ABC News reported. He had already rebuked Kyiv over its refinery strikes, telling reporters at the White House, “He better damn well stop,” according to Al Jazeera.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky countered that Russia never honored the truce, saying Moscow hit Ukrainian energy, oil and gas sites 76 times in the past week. “America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” Zelensky wrote on X. He pinned the war on Moscow. “It is Russia that must face pressure for peace to have a chance,” he said.
Since the American President announced the energy ceasefire a week ago, Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine’s energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times. Last night alone, there were strikes on substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Odesa regions. Tens of thousands of families remain without power. Energy workers and repair crews are working virtually around the clock to restore electricity supply. Overnight, the Russians also struck residential buildings in our regions. As of now, 12 people have been reported injured, including two children. Two people have been killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. This morning, there was a strike on an agricultural enterprise in Volyn. All necessary services are working at the site. In total, over this past week, the Russians have attacked Ukraine with almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic. The main targets of these strikes are energy facilities – the Russians are trying to cause a blackout. And America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements. On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting. It is because of this position of Russia’s that the war continues, not because Ukraine is rightfully defending itself. It is Russia that must face pressure for peace to have a chance. Thank you to everyone who understands this and helps.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency Tass that Ukraine was “resisting” but could not “change the current course of events.” Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and wounded at least two others, including a 6-year-old girl, regional military chief Mykhailo Semikin said, according to the Post.
Trump gave no firm answer on further sanctions. “We’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” he told reporters Saturday, the Post reported. “But it’s a very good decision, and it’s going to be a decision that’s good for the country, and I think good for the world.”
