Ukraine Strikes St. Petersburg as Putin Takes the Stage at Economic Forum

On June 3, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil terminal and naval base in St. Petersburg hours before Vladimir Putin's keynote address at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The timing was deliberate. The Kremlin uses the forum to project economic stability to foreign investors amid Western sanctions. Explosions and smoke over the host city undermined that narrative on its opening morning, broadcasting constraints on Russian normalcy to an international audience.