Saint Petersburg

Is St Petersburg safe to visit?

Not for Western visitors at the moment, though the reasons have little to do with the city's streets. St Petersburg's roads are among the safest in Russia, with 2.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, and the centre looks normal. But the US says do not travel to Russia for any reason, the UK advises against all travel, and the war now reaches the city: a Ukrainian drone attack on 18 October 2026 killed one person and set the oil terminal on fire.

The other big risk is arbitrary detention. Both governments say Russia has held foreigners on questionable charges and used them as leverage, and that they can do very little to help. St Petersburg's factors average 68, but the score is capped at 43, the same ceiling as Russia's.

Drones over the city and Pulkovo

St Petersburg sits far from the front, but not out of range. On the night of 18 October 2026, Governor Alexander Beglov said a "massive" drone attack killed one person and injured five. Fires broke out at the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky district, and residential buildings were also hit, Al Jazeera reported. Over the wider Leningrad region, 145 drones were shot down and about 20,000 people lost power.

The airport is the everyday disruption. Pulkovo stopped operations twice in a single night before 16 October 2026, Euronews reported, and flights were restricted again during the 18 October attack. Across Russia, airports closed 993 times in August 2026 alone. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says drone attacks and air defence fire can lead to short-notice closures of airspace and airports, and the US lists St Petersburg among the large cities hit by drone attacks and explosions.

If you are in the city during a raid, take cover inside a building or underground and stay away from windows, the FCDO says. Do not photograph or post images of a strike or its aftermath. The FCDO says such images fall under severe restrictions, and spreading information the authorities consider "fake" can bring up to 15 years in prison.

Detention and the law

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says Russia has a track record of targeting foreign nationals and holding them in detention as leverage over other countries, and since 28 December 2024 the criminal code covers more activity by foreigners seen as acting against Russian interests. Arrests have followed:

• Posts or donations supporting Ukraine, even made before the trip.
• LGBT+ symbols, after a Supreme Court ruling labelled the "international LGBT movement" extremist from January 2024.
• Joining a protest, even alone.
• Photographing military or official sites, including airports.

Carry your passport at all times. Police carry out random checks and copies are not accepted; without it you can be fined or held for up to 48 hours. Dual nationals are treated only as Russian citizens. The US Embassy in Moscow has cut its staff, and all US consulates in Russia have suspended operations.

Street crime and scams

St Petersburg is the only city named in the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary's violent crime warning: it says violent criminals do not usually target foreign visitors, but gangs in St Petersburg have targeted tourists for street crime. Interior Ministry figures, compiled by Statbase, show 146 killings in the city in 2025, about 2.6 per 100,000 and well below Russia's national rate of 7.8 (UNODC, 2024). Petrostat reported that killings and attempted killings rose by almost 12% in January to May 2025, Fontanka reported.

The FCDO warns of pickpockets and muggers in tourist areas, at the main railway stations and in hotel rooms. Practical steps:

• Do not walk about alone late at night, and do not go to a bar with someone you have just met.
• Book taxis through an app or your hotel; official-looking cars can be unlicensed.
• Ask anyone who stops you claiming to be police for identification.
• Buy your own drinks and keep them in sight; drink spiking leads to robbery and, in winter, can kill.

Methanol is a specific local risk. The FCDO says recent deaths from methanol poisoning were linked to bootleg vodka sold in the Leningrad region, so buy alcohol only from reputable places.

Money, roads and health care

Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad do not work, so bring enough cash in US dollars or euros for the whole stay, plus a reserve for a cancelled flight. Getting in and out is slow: the Finnish border is closed, and flights route through Turkey, the Middle East, Serbia or the Caucasus.

The roads are a bright spot, with a death rate about a quarter of Russia's 9.5 per 100,000, though the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary calls road safety across Russia poor. The FCDO says medical care may not meet Western standards and hospitals may ask for payment before treatment. Call 112 in an emergency.

How we scored it

Natural hazards (88) and traffic safety (84) are St Petersburg's strongest factors. Violent crime (58) starts from about 86 for the city's 2025 rate of 2.6 killings per 100,000 and takes the same deduction of about 28 points as Moscow (62) for drone strikes, airport attacks and detention risk. The weighted average of the factors is 68, but the overall score is capped at 43 (Russia's conflict score of 8 + 35): a city cannot score above its country's conflict ceiling, because missiles and attacks do not stop at city limits. Confidence is low because the city crime count comes from an aggregator and we could not reach a city air quality figure.