Steve Rosenberg: Lasting image of Russia's economic forum is plume of smoke over St Petersburg

Steve Rosenberg: Lasting image of Russia's economic forum is plume of smoke over St Petersburg 11 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Steve Rosenberg BBC Russia Editor Getty Images A huge plume of thick black smoke dominated the St Petersburg skyline on Wednesday after a Ukrainian drone attack An evil sorcerer is the last person you'd expect to see at an economic forum. But there he stood working his wizardry. With sleight of hand Russian folklore villain "Koshchei the Deathless" (or, rather, someone dressed as him) produced coins out of thin air, "broke" and reassembled someone's glasses and shocked passers-by with occasional puffs of smoke from his fingers. "Russians are unpredictable people," he declared. "We do things no one expects." Perhaps. But in St Petersburg this week, the unexpected was delivered most dramatically by Ukraine. Ukrainian drones attacked the St Petersburg area on the opening – and closing – days of the set-piece International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The abiding image of SPIEF 2026 will be the huge plume of thick black smoke which dominated the St Petersburg skyline on Wednesday. Without specifying what was hit, local officials admitted that drones had damaged "infrastructure". All the delegates saw the smoke as they arrived at the expo centre on the edge of the city. Symbol of unpredictability: A man dressed as a sorcerer is perhaps the last thing you would expect to see at an economic forum Few could have predicted what came next. Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Vladimir Putin. Ukraine's president taunted Russia's leader about his age and about Russian setbacks in the war but proposed the two leaders meet in a neutral country to talk peace. President Putin's response? Nothing unpredictable about that. The Kremlin leader, who had rejected previous calls for direct talks with President Zelensky, criticised the letter's "rude" tone and dismissed the offer . "It's not the author of the latter I need to respond to," President Putin said, "but our soldiers on the frontline…I say to them: keep at it, brothers!" Vladimir Putin is not ready to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Not unless it's on his terms. I listened to what he said at the forum's plenary session. There were few surprises. The Putin we saw is the Putin we expected to see - uncompromising, unrepentant, determined to project an image of strength and unwavering conviction. He tried to appear confident about the war, and about Russia's economy. EPA Putin rejected Zelensky's call for a face-to-face meeting on ending the war, labelling his open letter as "rude" Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg as Putin's flagship economic forum opens Putin says there is 'no point' meeting Zelensky over ending Ukraine war Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg in attack Russia calls 'unprecedented' "There are wars and sanctions. But the economy is developing," Vladimir Putin claimed. "Everything is stable." Applauded by entrepreneurs, friendly foreign dignitarie