Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine drones hit Saint Petersburg as flagship economic forum opens

Some 20,000 guests from 130 countries are set to attend the three-day annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) -- an event once dubbed "Russia's Davos" -- which starts Wednesday.

The strikes come a day after a barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed 23 people across Ukraine.

Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said "several" infrastructure facilities were damaged, but no one was killed in the attack.

Drones hit the Saint Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Kronstadt military base in the city, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said -- the latest in a series of retaliatory attacks that Kyiv calls "long-range sanctions".

"Ukraine's plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer," he said on social media, posting a video of an oil depot ablaze.

The attacks forced Saint Petersburg's main airport to close for hours overnight.

Ukrainian officials said the attack was aimed at disrupting the three-day gathering, which President Vladimir Putin will attend and make a keynote address at on Friday.

"The Petersburg forum is opening with a nice plume of black smoke in the background after Ukrainian strikes," Sergiy Sternenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian defence minister wrote.

An AFP reporter saw the smoke visible from the conference venue as delegates gathered for the first sessions.

Several flights from Moscow to Saint Petersburg were delayed, an AFP reporter at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport said.

- Russia's Davos -

Since Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine in February 2022, SPIEF -- previously Moscow's premier economic event for courting Western investment -- has been seen as a snapshot of Russia's isolation on the world stage.

In the 2010s, French President Emmanuel Macron, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were among those who addressed the forum alongside Putin.

Now Russia can only rely on leaders of its closest allies to attend -- this year, the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, alongside ministers from the likes of Cuba, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The Kremlin's economy envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the forum was a gathering of "sovereign countries", slamming "globalist" rivals like the annual Davos gathering in Switzerland.

"The countries of the Global South are building up their economic strength, actively moving toward partnership with Russia and will be strongly represented," he said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres -- who on Tuesday condemned Russian strikes on Ukraine -- will speak at a panel on the environment on Friday.

Several fringe figures from Western countries have also been invited -- including right-wing commentator Candace Owens, Putin-backing US actor Steven Seagal and representatives of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Andrew Tate, the British-American self-described misogynist charged in Romania with human trafficking and accused of rape, landed in Moscow on Tuesday, triggering speculation he would also attend the forum.

Ukraine has escalated its strikes on Russian energy and military sites in recent months, calling them fair retribution for Russia's nightly barrages against its cities.

Russian-installed officials in occupied eastern Ukraine said seven people were killed when a Ukrainian drone hit a bus travelling between Moscow and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Overnight into Wednesday, Russia said its air defences intercepted 354 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, including areas bordering Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

Meanwhile, Russian strikes killed two people in the southern frontline city of Kherson, Ukrainian officials there said.

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Q.Najjar--SF-PST