Russia repels drone attack over Leningrad region as economic forum kicks off

By Jekaterina Golubkova

June 3 (Reuters) – Russia downed 50 drones over the Leningrad region northwest of Moscow overnight and continues to repel the suspected Ukrainian attacks, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Wednesday, as a major annual economic forum was about to start.

The Leningrad region, home to crucial energy export infrastructure and a major oil refinery, is hosting the economic conference, President Vladimir Putin’s “Russian Davos”, in St. Petersburg from Wednesday. 

The investment forum, the fifth since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, opens just hours after a deadly Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv which Moscow said was in response to a deadly attack on a dormitory in Kremlin-controlled Luhansk.

Putin is to deliver his keynote speech on Friday at a session also to be attended by presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, as well as China’s vice president and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, the schedule shows. A prominent right-wing U.S. influencer, a serving U.S. official and a German retail billionaire are also expected to attend the forum.

In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-biggest city and Putin’s hometown, Pulkovo airport was temporarily restricting flights, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on the Telegram messaging app. More than 30 flights were delayed or cancelled, local news outlets said. 

St. Petersburg has put in place comprehensive safety measures ahead of the event, Alexander Beglov, the city’s governor, told the RIA news agency.

“All new challenges have been fully taken into account. Law enforcement forces have allocated personnel and equipment to ensure public safety and order,” he said.

Ukraine has recently stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure as it tries to deprive Moscow of revenues. On Tuesday, it hit the Ilsky export oil refinery in Russia’s south with drones.

At least 20 drones heading to Moscow were downed overnight, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. In Russia’s central Tambov region, outbuildings at an industrial facility in the city of Michurinsk were damaged, the governor said on Telegram.

The National Armed Forces of Latvia, an EU and NATO member, briefly issued an airspace violation threat for the municipality of Aluksne close to the Russian border on Wednesday morning, before withdrawing it.

A Ukrainian drone attack killed seven and injured another eleven in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Wednesday, the Kremlin-installed head of the region said.

Denis Pushilin, posting on the Telegram messaging app, said the drone hit a passenger bus travelling between Moscow and Simferopol in Russian-occupied Crimea. 

Reuters could not independently verify all the reports.

(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Lincoln Feast.)