Ukraine drones – Ukraine carried out long-range drone attacks early Saturday near St. Petersburg and in Russia’s Krasnodar region, hours after Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed a call for talks with Vladimir Putin. Putin dismissed the idea, saying there was “no point” in a face-to-f
In the early hours of Saturday, Ukraine launched a large number of long-range drones aimed at Russian military and energy targets—striking sites near St. Petersburg and hitting an oil depot in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
The attacks came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin, for his part, said he saw “no point” in a face-to-face meeting.
Zelenskyy said the drones flew about 620 miles to reach targets in the St. Petersburg area, including what he described as naval arsenals and a base in Kronstadt. He also said the drones struck an oil depot in the Krasnodar region. Zelenskyy called the strikes “important results” and added that Moscow must end the war.
The timing landed on the final day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Ukraine had already targeted the region earlier in the week, when officials reported another wave of drones ahead of the forum.
Before Saturday’s strikes. Zelenskyy had laid out his bargaining terms in an open letter published ahead of the latest attacks. In it. he proposed direct negotiations with Putin. saying Ukraine was ready for a ceasefire during the talks and for an all-for-all prisoner exchange. He argued the war should be ended “honestly, with dignity, and with guarantees” that it would not resume.
Putin rejected the proposal Friday during his remarks at the forum. He said a leaders’ meeting would make sense only after negotiators worked out the terms of a broader agreement. Putin also accused Kyiv of trying to halt Russia’s battlefield momentum and described Zelenskyy’s letter as offensive in tone.
As Ukraine pressed attacks near Russia’s political and economic spotlight, U.S. lawmakers moved in parallel on Ukraine-related policy. More than a dozen Republicans broke with GOP leadership Thursday to pass a bill providing more aid to Ukraine and imposing new sanctions on Russia—pushing the vote forward through a discharge petition.
A discharge petition is a procedural tool used to bypass leadership if it collects 218 signatures. The House voted 226 to 195 to approve the package. with 18 Republicans crossing party lines to send nearly $2 billion in aid to Ukraine. Only one Democrat—Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar—voted no, despite signing the petition.
The sequence is stark: Zelenskyy renewed his call for talks and offered a ceasefire during negotiations. while Putin rejected face-to-face meetings and argued talks should wait until terms are worked out. Even as diplomacy was extended in words, drones were moving on the ground in the hours that followed—near St. Petersburg and across the energy-linked target map in Krasnodar.
With the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum now in its final day and U.S. lawmakers having advanced new aid and sanctions. the next question is the same one tightening on both sides of the divide: whether negotiations can start before momentum on the battlefield makes them harder to sustain.
Ukraine drones St. Petersburg Kronstadt Krasnodar oil depot Volodymyr Zelenskyy Vladimir Putin negotiations prisoner exchange U.S. House discharge petition Ilhan Omar Ukraine aid sanctions on Russia