Ukrainian drones attacked the St Petersburg area on the opening and closing days of the International Economic Forum (SPIEF), leaving a huge plume of thick black smoke over the city. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
At the forum, a person dressed as the Russian folklore villain "Koshchei the Deathless" performed magic tricks, producing coins out of thin air and breaking and reassembling glasses. "Russians are unpredictable people. We do things no one expects," he declared.
However, the most unexpected was delivered by Ukraine. The thick black smoke over St Petersburg on Wednesday became the defining image of the forum. Local officials admitted drones had damaged "infrastructure" without specifying what was hit. All delegates saw the smoke as they arrived at the expo centre on the city's edge.
Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Vladimir Putin, taunting him about his age and Russian setbacks in the war, but proposing a meeting in a neutral country for peace talks. The Kremlin leader criticised the letter's "rude" tone and dismissed the offer. "It's not the author of the letter I need to respond to, but our soldiers on the frontline: keep at it, brothers!" Putin said.
Putin showed at the forum's plenary session that he is not ready to end the war. He was uncompromising, unrepentant, and sought to project strength. "There are wars and sanctions. But the economy is developing. Everything is stable," he claimed.
But outside the forum, Russia suffers massive battlefield losses and Ukrainian drones penetrating deep inside the country. Officials quoted the Kremlin when asked about the war. Deputy speaker of the Duma Alexander Zhukov said: "I can only respond in the words of our president: this situation must be resolved soon." Governor of Smolensk region Vasily Anokhin said: "As our president says, our enemies are trying to hurt us."
The Russian economy is hurting. War and sanctions create considerable pressure. Growth has stalled in most sectors, with Russian economists speaking of "stagnation" and "decline". In Lipetsk region, small business owners said they were struggling to stay afloat.
At the forum, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy on foreign investment, conceded: "Interest rates are a bit too high, but Russia's economy has proved resilient over the last five years." Some businesses see opportunity even in a challenging economic environment.