Russia fends off drone attack in the Leningrad region. 

Russia downed 50 drones over the Leningrad region northwest ‌of Moscow overnight and continues to repel the suspected Ukrainian attacks, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Wednesday, as a major annual economic forum was about to start.

The Leningrad region, known for its vital energy export facilities and a major oil refinery, will host President Vladimir Putin’s “Russian Davos” economic conference in St. Petersburg starting Wednesday.

The fifth investment forum since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 kicked off just hours after a deadly Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv, which Moscow claimed was retaliation for a lethal attack on a dormitory in Kremlin-controlled Luhansk.

Putin is to deliver ​his keynote speech on Friday at a session also to be attended by presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, ​as well as China’s vice president and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, the schedule shows. A prominent right-wing U.S. influencer, a serving U.S. official and a German retail billionaire are also expected to attend the forum.

In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-biggest city and Putin’s ​hometown, Pulkovo airport was temporarily restricting flights, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on the Telegram messaging app. More than ​30 flights were delayed or cancelled, local news outlets said.

St. Petersburg has put in place comprehensive safety measures ahead of ‌the ⁠event, Alexander Beglov, the city’s governor, told the RIA news agency.

“All new challenges have been fully taken into account. Law enforcement forces have allocated personnel and equipment to ensure public safety and order,” he said.

Ukraine has recently increased its attacks on Russian energy facilities in an effort to cut Moscow’s revenue. On Tuesday, drones targeted the Ilsky export oil refinery in southern Russia.

At least 20 drones heading to Moscow were downed overnight, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. In Russia’s central Tambov region, outbuildings at an industrial facility in the city ​of Michurinsk were damaged, the governor said on Telegram.

The National Armed Forces of Latvia, an EU ​and NATO ⁠member, briefly issued an airspace violation threat for the municipality of Aluksne close to the Russian border on Wednesday morning, before withdrawing it.

A Ukrainian drone attack killed seven and injured another eleven in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s ⁠eastern Donetsk ​region on Wednesday, the Kremlin-installed head of the region said.

Denis ​Pushilin, posting on the Telegram messaging app, said the drone hit a passenger bus travelling between Moscow and Simferopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.