Russian propaganda after attack: Own damage is hardly an issue on state television

The most violent attack on St. Petersburg since the beginning of the war was hardly worth any airtime on Russian television. On the night of October 18th there were bangs and fires in several parts of the city. Two oil depots went up in flames, one of the most important bridges over the Neva was hit, a logistics center for the online retailer Ozon and a data center for the IT group VK were badly hit.

There were injuries and a driver was fatally hit by falling drone parts. It is the first civilian war death in Russia's northern metropolis. The black plumes of smoke from burning oil tanks and warehouses clouded the city.

In the 20 news programs on the state channels Rossiya, First Channel and NTW, which were broadcast throughout Sunday and into Monday morning, there were no independent reports about the attack - the channels limited themselves to short reports from the presenters that lasted no more than a minute. In total, the worst attack to date on Russia's second-largest city received less than five minutes of broadcast time. During the same period, however, they devoted more than an hour to the unrest in France.

And instead of showing the damage, the Rossiya news anchor drew the television audience's attention to one detail in particular: the combat drones had flown over the territory of the neighboring Baltic states towards St. Petersburg. He didn't say where they came from.

In fact, this time, unlike previous attacks, a whole range of completely different targets were targeted. Clear damage can be seen on satellite images. The first major fire as a result of the drone attacks broke out shortly before three a.m. in the oil terminal at the port, and later parts of an oil reservoir burned at the other end of the city. A huge logistics center for the online retailer Ozon and a data center for the IT group VK were also hit.

For the first time, the Ukrainian military fired drones specifically against a bridge. Ultimately, this is just a mirror-image reaction to previous Russian attacks on bridges over the Dnipro in Kyiv. Now the 622 meter long, eight-lane Korabelnyj Bridge in the mouth of the Neva, which was only completed in 2016, was hit. It connects districts that are far away from each other and separated by water.

When she left the house a little later, she was met with a sight of destruction: at the other end of the huge block, there were gaps in the facade from broken windows, cars were full of shattered glass, and at one point in the yard there was a huge funnel gaping in the ground. At least the residents in this house were spared. On the Cosmonaut Prospect, however, a drone crashed directly into a residential building, causing injuries.

Only very few people know where people can go to safety in the event of an alarm. The authorities only provide addresses of air raid shelters upon request. The St. Petersburg online portal Fontanka reported that the neglect of existing shelters was discussed during the budget debate for the coming years. But the city doesn't want to spend money on repairs and equipment. The amount earmarked for civil defense was almost completely eliminated.