In a series of strikes on Russian oil targets, Ukraine initiated attacks on a significant loading port on the Baltic Sea and two tankers allegedly involved in the illicit transportation of Russian crude. The assault, including a nighttime drone strike, caused a fire at Primorsk, Russia’s primary oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, as confirmed by Russian regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.
Primorsk, managed by Russia’s state oil company Transneft, has the capacity to process hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Situated over 1,000 kilometers away from Ukraine, Primorsk has been repeatedly targeted, positioned between the Russian-Finnish border and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.
Despite the drone strike not resulting in an oil spill, Drozdenko refrained from commenting immediately on any casualties or damage incurred. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, declared that Ukrainian forces successfully neutralized several military targets and inflicted substantial harm on the oil port infrastructure.
Zelenskyy mentioned in a Telegram post that a Russian carrier of Kalibr missiles was disabled, and Major General Yevhen Khmara affirmed the destruction of targets at the Primorsk port. Ukrainian drones also struck a Karakurt missile ship, a patrol boat, and a tanker linked to Russia’s clandestine oil fleet designed to circumvent Western sanctions and price controls on Russian energy.
Further emphasizing their offensive, Zelenskyy disclosed that Ukrainian forces attacked two additional “shadow fleet” tankers near the entrance of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The operation was overseen by Andrii Hnatov, the chief of Ukraine’s general staff.
While Moscow did not immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s assertions regarding the strikes, Kyiv has notably intensified its assaults on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials argue that oil revenues directly fuel Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
In separate incidents, Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, resulting in two fatalities and three injuries. The attack damaged three residential structures and port facilities, leading to a fire extinguished by emergency teams. Additionally, nighttime strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region wounded six individuals, with a passenger bus carrying 40 children sustaining damage but no injuries reported.
Conversely, a Ukrainian drone strike near Moscow led to the demise of a 77-year-old man, as stated by local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov. The fatal incident occurred close to Volokolamsk, approximately 120 kilometers from central Moscow. Vorobyov mentioned that six drones were downed in the Moscow region, while mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported the downing of five more drones approaching Moscow.
The Russian Defence Ministry disclosed that over 300 Ukrainian UAVs were downed overnight in Russia and occupied Crimea. Concurrently, Russia launched attacks with drones and ballistic missiles on Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces intercepting and repelling a significant number of them across various locations.