Ukraine initiated a series of strikes against Russian oil facilities on Sunday, targeting a vital loading port on the Baltic Sea and two tankers allegedly involved in the illicit transportation of Russian crude oil.
A nighttime drone attack led to a fire at Russia’s primary oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, known as the port of Primorsk. This port, managed by Russia’s state oil company Transneft, has the capacity to process hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Despite being over 1,000 kilometers away from Ukraine, Primorsk has been repeatedly targeted, situated between the Russian-Finnish border and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.
While the drone strike did not result in an oil spill, there was no immediate information provided by Alexander Drozdenko, the regional Governor, regarding any casualties or damages. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Ukrainian forces successfully eliminated military and other targets, causing significant harm to the oil port infrastructure.
Zelenskyy announced in a Telegram post that a Russian missile carrier and other targets at the Primorsk port were destroyed. Additionally, Ukrainian drones targeted a Karakurt missile ship, a patrol boat, and a tanker linked to Russia’s clandestine oil fleet, which is used to circumvent Western sanctions and price controls on Russian energy.
Further strikes were carried out by Ukrainian forces near the entrance of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, targeting two more tankers from the “shadow fleet.” Zelenskyy confirmed the success of these operations led by Andrii Hnatov, the chief of Ukraine’s general staff.
Moscow did not immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s claims regarding the strikes. The Ukrainian government has intensified its attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure, asserting that oil revenue directly supports Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In a separate incident, Russian drones attacked the southern Odesa region in Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of two individuals and injuring three others. The attack damaged residential buildings and port facilities, prompting a response from emergency teams.
Moreover, nighttime strikes in central Ukraine wounded six people in the Dnipropetrovsk region. In Russia, a drone strike near Moscow led to the death of a 77-year-old man. The Russian Defence Ministry reported the downing of 334 Ukrainian UAVs over Russia and Crimea, while the Ukrainian air force claimed to have repelled numerous drone and missile attacks from Russia.