Moscow: A Ukrainian drone assault damaged Russia’s major Ust-Luga petroleum export terminal on Sunday, igniting fires and forcing a halt to oil loadings, according to Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko.
In a Telegram post, Drozdenko stated that air defences downed 36 drones over the northern region. Ust-Luga, managed by state-owned pipeline operator Transneft (TRNF_p.MM), typically processes around 700,000 barrels per day of crude
exports and moved 32.9 million metric tons of oil products last year, sources told Reuters.
The attack fits Ukraine’s pattern of hitting Russian energy infrastructure to erode Moscow’s war machine. Russian authorities confirmed flames erupted at Ust-Luga following the drone incursion. Nearby Primorsk port, on the Gulf of Finland’s northern shore, endured strikes in recent days.
No injuries were reported, though Telegram videos – unverified – captured towering black smoke clouds visible from afar.
From across the border, Finland’s Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District director Jukka-Pekka Lumilahti providing an update on the Primorsk blaze, said: “It is still burning there pretty much just as it was at the start. These are indeed massive fires, and there is a massive amount of smoke.” He said no oil spills from the incidents.