Ukrainian drones hit VK data center and Ozon warehouse near St. Petersburg

Drones hit St. Petersburg overnight, striking one of VK’s data centers in the Leningrad region and hitting a logistics center belonging to major Russian retailer Ozon.

During the night of October 17th-18th, Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack across Russia, setting fire to the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, according to St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov.

A data center of VK (VKontakte), one of Russia's biggest technology companies, came under attack in Novosergievka. The company said its services were operating normally, but users have reported connection problems and outages when using VK.

It’s unclear whether the reported disruptions were linked to the attack on the data center or damage to a nearby electrical substation, which was reported by Astra’s investigators.

Drones also hit Russian e-commerce company Ozon, which confirmed that the attack caused a fire at its fulfillment center on Sofiyskaya Street in St. Petersburg’s Kolpino district. It is one of Ozon’s largest logistics sites in northwestern Russia.

In addition, the attacks damaged electrical distribution infrastructure in the Leningrad region, with emergency power cuts leaving roughly 20,000 residents without electricity.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight. According to Russia’s state-run news agency TASS, the attack was the largest on the region in the last four years.

The drone strikes killed at least one person and injured several others, according to local authorities.

Last week, Yandex said that its data center in the Vladimir region was forced to shut down following a drone attack, the third to hit the company's facilities in four days. No casualties were reported in that incident.

Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

On October 16th-17th, Russia launched a large overnight attack on Ukraine, targeting more than 15 energy facilities, resulting in power and water disruptions in several regions.

The strikes killed seven people and injured at least 90.

"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," Zelensky ​wrote ⁠on X on October 18th, adding that the latest ​strikes hit substations ​in ⁠the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Odesa ⁠regions.

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.

undefined Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2026