A huge plume of thick black smoke dominated the St Petersburg skyline on Wednesday after Ukrainian drone attacks overshadowed the opening of President Vladimir Putin's flagship International Economic Forum. The abiding image of SPIEF 2026, as the event is known, was the smoke rising from what local officials admitted was damaged "infrastructure" — visible to all delegates arriving at the expo centre on the edge of the city.
Inside the congress hall, Putin was applauded by entrepreneurs, foreign dignitaries and officials as he tried to project confidence about the war and Russia's economy. "There are wars and sanctions. But the economy is developing," he claimed. "Everything is stable." But the contrast with events outside was stark. The regional governor reported that 141 drones were shot down over the surrounding region, and residents were told to stay at home.
“Ukrainian drones strike St Petersburg, overshadowing Putin's economic forum as 141 drones shot down.”
The attacks bookended the forum, with drones also hitting the area on its closing day. They came as Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Putin, taunting Russia's leader about his age and Russian setbacks in the war, but proposing the two meet in a neutral country for peace talks. Putin dismissed the offer, criticising its "rude" tone. "It's not the author of the letter I need to respond to," he said, "but our soldiers on the frontline… I say to them: keep at it, brothers!"
Outside the expo centre, a folklore villain dressed as "Koshchei the Deathless" entertained passers-by with magic tricks, producing coins out of thin air and reassembling a pair of glasses. "Russians are unpredictable people," he declared. "We do things no one expects." But the most dramatic unpredictability came from Ukraine — and the message from the Kremlin was clear. When BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg asked senior officials about the war, their responses all quoted the Kremlin's line on the "special military operation". As Rosenberg observed, the Putin on display was uncompromising, unrepentant, and determined to project strength. But his real problem, he noted, lies outside: massive battlefield losses and long-range Ukrainian drones now penetrating deep inside the country.