Ukraine drone strikes hit Russia’s largest Baltic oil port, disrupting shipments

Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) drones struck Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil port on the Baltic Sea, causing fires at the port and pumping station and suspending oil shipments.

Primorsk serves as the terminus of the Baltic pipeline system and is a critical hub for loading the so-called “shadow fleet,” which Russia uses to bypass international sanctions and sell oil abroad.

According to SBU sources, quoted by Ukrainian media, approximately 60 million tonnes of oil pass through the port annually, generating around $15 billion for Russia.

As a result of the SBU drone attack, fires broke out on one of the ships at the port and at the pumping station, leading to a suspension of oil shipments. The estimated daily losses to the Russian budget due to halted exports could reach $41 million.

In addition to Primorsk, SBU drones targeted several Russian oil pumping stations, including:

• NPS-3

• NPS Andreapol

• NPS-7

These facilities are key components of the main pipeline system supplying crude oil to the Ust-Luga port terminal.

An informed SBU source said: “The SBU was the first to systematically introduce so-called drone sanctions against the Russian oil industry. They cut off the flow of petrodollars to the aggressor’s budget. Since the Russian economy is based on oil, each such ‘blow’ impacts their ability to wage war against our state. These sanctions will continue until a just peace is established in Ukraine.”

The attacks follow a series of drone strikes on the night of September 12 in the Leningrad region, targeting the Primorsk port and setting one ship on fire.

Earlier reports indicate additional drone incidents in Russia, including explosions in the Kursk, Bryansk, and Moscow regions. In the Smolensk region, the Kardimovo oil depot was reportedly attacked.

By Tamilla Hasanova