Russia claims to have shot down 146 drones in the Leningrad region, near strategic ports and oil infrastructure

Russia announced that it had shot down 146 drones during Wednesday morning, in an attack on the Leningrad region, located in the northwestern part of the country, Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Telegram. The information was not independently verified by Reuters.

The region is home to the ports of Ust-Luga, Primorsk, and Vysotsk, which are important for Russian oil and grain exports via the Baltic Sea. The Kirishi refinery, operated by Surgutneftegaz and considered the second-largest in Russia, is also located there.

The incident occurred two days after a drone struck the Kirishi refinery. The attack caused a fire at the facility, and a woman was killed in the region where the city of St. Petersburg is located.

Amid the intensification of drone attacks, Latvia and Lithuania warned their populations about unidentified aircraft entering their airspace from Russia or Belarus. NATO deployed fighter jets for air defense missions.

In Ukraine, a drone attack left part of the city of Kryvyi Rih without electricity. The developments come as Russia and Ukraine participate in peace talks held in Abu Dhabi, the first direct negotiations between the two sides in the past nine months.