Ukrainian drones hit one of Russia’s largest oil terminals overnight, adding to fires still raging from a string of attacks that began almost a week targeting the country’s ability to export oil, gas and other energy products via the Baltic Sea. File Photo by Russian Emergencies Ministry/EPA-EFE
Ukrainian drones struck a key Russian oil export hub on the Baltic Sea overnight, adding to fires still raging from a string of attacks that began on Wednesday.
Leningrad region Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said three people were injured, two of them children, and that the Ust-Luga Port and residential properties in a village had sustained damage.
He did not detail the extent of the damage to the port 70-miles west of Saint Petersburg and which handles around a fifth of Russian oil exports, saying only that Russian air defenses had downed 38 drones.
Ukraine drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said Ust-Luga had been hit again “to keep the fire going.”
Brovdi earlier stated that an operation targeting Russian oil facilities on the Baltic Sea got underway more than a week ago with the goal of “demilitarizing Russia’s oil arteries, refining capacity and crude export infrastructure.”
Ukraine’s military has said the Kirishi refinery is among the three largest oil‑processing plants in Russia, including the production of “fuels that support the armed forces of the aggressor state”.
Three oil tankers, five fuel tanks, three berths and facilities belonging to Russian natural gas giant Novatek were damaged after dozens of drones targeted Ust-Luga on Wednesday, triggering a fire at the port.
The multipurpose facility, which handled more than 130 millions tons of crude oil, petroleum products, liquid chemicals as well as coal, fertilizer, agricultural products, containers and other cargo in 2025, was hit again on Saturday, sparking another blaze.
The BBC said video, satellite imagery, including NASA heat detection data, which it had verified, showed huge fires burning at Ust-Luga and Russia’s largest oil terminal at Primorsk, 70 miles northwest of Saint Petersburg as well at the Kirishi oil refinery, inland.
Analysis of the footage and images indicated at least eight storage tanks destroyed or damaged at Ust-Luga, eight tanks destroyed or damaged at Primorsk and at least two storage tanks damaged at the Kirishi plant.
The latest attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was unable to agree to a request by the country’s western allies to scale back attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure to avoid adding to the disruption to global energy supplies caused by the war with Iran.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a 30-day license allowing Russian oil already loaded onto sanctioned tankers to be sold in the international market as part of an effort to boost the amount of oil available globally and contain prices that have surged as high as $119 a barrel.
Ukraine’s campaign directly contradicts that effort — but Zelensky vowed Ukraine would only halt its targeting of Russia’s energy sector if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s power generation and distribution infrastructure.
Historic March moments through the years
Founder of the Women’s Tennis Association and tennis great Billie Jean King (C) smiles with representatives after speaking during an annual Women’s History Month event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX in Statuary Hall at the U.S .Capitol in Washington on March 9, 2022. Women’s History Month is celebrated every March. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
