St. Petersburg: Pulkovo closures and a national fuel crisis reshape the practical risks
St Petersburg's risk profile has not changed category since our last review — the FCDO still advises against all travel to Russia — but the practical texture of a visit has shifted twice over in the past eight weeks, and both shifts are logistical rather than criminal.
The first is airspace. Pulkovo (LED) has become one of the most disruption-prone major airports in Europe. On 3 June, Ukrainian drones struck the Petersburg Oil Terminal and targets at the Kronstadt naval base hours before the St Petersburg International Economic Forum opened; 57 flights were delayed and 22 diverted. On 24 July, strikes on two Wildberries logistics warehouses inside the city grounded traffic again, with roughly 50 departures delayed and 15 inbound aircraft holding at alternate airfields. Two days later the Navy Day parade on the Neva was cancelled for the second consecutive year, with Putin addressing sailors indoors at the Admiralty instead. The operational lesson: treat any Pulkovo itinerary as provisional. Closures are announced with little notice, usually overnight or in the early morning, and diversions have put passengers down at airfields several hours' drive away. Do not book same-day onward connections, and budget for a night you did not plan on.
The second shift is fuel. The FCDO added fuel shortages to its road travel section on 3 July. Ukrainian strikes on refineries — including the Omsk plant, Russia's largest, on 6 July — have produced rationing across more than 40 regions affecting an estimated 50 million people; by 9 July most regions had retailers or local authorities capping sales per customer. Moscow has banned gasoline exports since April, jet fuel since 1 June and diesel since 8 July. For visitors this makes self-drive day trips — Peterhof, Kronstadt, Vyborg — genuinely unreliable, and it has spawned an opportunist secondary market at the pumps that we are documenting separately.
Money is the thing arrivals most consistently get wrong. Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Amex do not function in Russia, and neither do Apple Pay or Google Pay. UnionPay is accepted only at larger hotels, major retailers and some online platforms. The workable options are cash — up to USD 10,000 equivalent without a customs declaration — or a domestic Mir card, which a foreign visitor can obtain on a passport at a bank branch, including branches inside Pulkovo. MirPay, SberPay and SBPay then cover contactless. Exchange at bank counters only, never on the street: our street-exchange entry for Gostiny Dvor and Sennaya Ploshchad remains accurate and, with Western card rails closed and cash-dependence higher, that pitch is being worked harder than before.
On street crime, nothing has improved. The FCDO singles out St Petersburg by name for gangs targeting tourists, consistent with all eleven patterns we document along Nevsky Prospekt, Palace Square and the Griboedov Canal embankment. Terrorism risk remains assessed as attacks being very likely, with crowded venues, transport networks and religious sites named as targets.
Two structural cautions. In-person UK consular support in Russia is limited, so assume slow help if something goes wrong. And male dual nationals aged 18–30 are liable for two years' conscription and are barred from leaving the country once a draft notice is issued.