War

1592nd day. Almost 400 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia overnight. Over Moscow per day - 200. In St. Petersburg, a fire at an oil terminal

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us your thoughts about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect your life and your attitude towards the world? If you have a story related to the war, tell it . The feedback form is at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .

Russia

During the night of July 4, Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 389 Ukrainian drones over 18 regions of the Russian Federation , annexed Crimea, as well as the Azov and Black Seas, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. It is unknown how many drones attacked Russia; the military department reports only on intercepted drones.

St. Petersburg and Leningrad region. The governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, reported a large-scale attack on the city. In total, 72 drones were shot down over the city and region, one of which fell in Peterhof. There were no destructions or casualties.

The attack also hit the territory of the oil terminal in the Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg. The publications “Paper” and Astra published photos and videos of the fire at the terminal, which were taken by St. Petersburg residents.

The St. Petersburg oil terminal is located in close proximity to the Big Port of St. Petersburg and is used for transshipment of oil and petroleum products between rail, pipeline and sea transport. On June 3, the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, there was already a major fire in the terminal after an attack by Ukrainian drones.

Astra noted that on July 4, it was not the tank that caught fire, but a railway tank on nearby access tracks. According to the authorities, the “man-made consequences” have already been eliminated. No one is injured. "Paper" writes that smoke no longer rises above the terminal.

The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said that debris from the downed drones fell near the port of Vysotsk. Private homes were damaged in several areas of the region. One local resident was injured: she was treated on the spot but refused hospitalization.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attack on St. Petersburg. “Ukrainian Defense Forces struck port oil infrastructure that generates revenue for the Russian war; Kronstadt, an important military target, was also struck. The distance from the state border of Ukraine is more than 850 kilometers,” he said on social networks.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added that we are talking about the Kronstadt base of the Russian Baltic Fleet. The agency claims that there was a fire on the port territory.

Amid the Ukrainian attack on St. Petersburg, the Finnish Defense Forces announced on the morning of July 4 that they had introduced temporary restrictions on the movement of aircraft and ships in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.

The press service of the Finnish Armed Forces explained to Yle journalists that the restrictions are related to Ukraine’s military actions against Russia, but did not disclose details. No drones were detected on Finnish territory.

Belgorod. Belgorod and the agglomeration late in the evening of July 3 were almost completely cut off after the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Power outages in the city were reported by “Ashes Belgorod” and “Caution, News”. According to Ash Belgorod, missile strikes were carried out simultaneously on all main substations in the city. A fire occurred at the Luch thermal power plant.

The authorities of the Belgorod region admitted that due to the massive strike of Ukraine, problems arose with the supply of electricity and water supply. The head of the region, Alexander Shuvaev, said that as a result of the attack, infrastructure facilities were damaged, and fires occurred on the territory of several infrastructure facilities. But he did not specify what these objects were. No one was injured, he said.

Moscow. Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine has launched more than 200 drones towards the Moscow region, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported at 11 a.m. on July 4. According to him, air defense forces “neutralized” most of the drones “at distant approaches.” 62 Ukrainian drones were destroyed on approach to Moscow. He did not report the consequences of the attack. The state agency TASS noted that the current drone raid on Moscow was one of the largest in two years.

Annexed Crimea. According to the Russian-appointed head of the peninsula, Sergei Aksenov, one local resident died as a result of the Ukrainian attack on the night of July 4. Two people, including a 10-year-old child, were injured.

In addition, in Udmurtia , local authorities reported, a Ukrainian missile was shot down, which was aimed at one of the enterprises in the region. According to Governor Alexander Brechalov, there were no casualties or damage.

War in photographs. Evacuation from the front-line Druzhkovka

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

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Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Lesya (Moscow) . I was 20 years old when the war began. Before this, I had a hard time with Covid due to the illnesses of my loved ones, it was difficult to study remotely, but by 2022 it seemed to have let me go and it seemed that everything was slowly getting better. And then it started. From that moment on, life seemed to either stop or slow down very much. It’s like I don’t have time to join in with what’s happening around me. I’m just watching from the sidelines how my acquaintances from Ukraine stop communicating, how former classmates/classmates/friends of friends disappear at the front. How my chances of realizing my profession here are melting away before my eyes, how prices are rising and my family no longer has enough to buy medicine. I feel so lost.

This year my last close friend is leaving the country. Everyone else has already left. And I feel nothing but tiredness and confusion. This will end someday, right? Someday there must come a moment in which there will be no feeling that all the supports on which you have built your life have broken. I really want to believe in it, but, to be honest, I don’t have the strength left to do so.

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