‘Smell’ of war comes to St Petersburg as Ukraine hammers Russian refineries

Konstantin can smell the consequences of the war in Ukraine from his apartment in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and President Vladimir Putin’s hometown.

Over the past two weeks, the asthmatic 53-year-old, whose full name has been withheld for fear of repercussions, has been sporadically aware of the odour of burning crude, fuel and other chemicals ignited by Ukrainian drone attacks...