Ukraine Damages Russia’s Primorsk Oil Terminal in Large Drone Assualt

Ukraine launched one of the largest drone assaults of the war, targeting multiple areas in Russia, including the first attack on the Primorsk oil terminal, Russia’s largest facility on the Baltic. Other reports indicate damage at the Ust-Luga terminal with Russian officials contending the attacks were targeting the facilities of Lukoil.

The Governor of the Leningrad Region confirmed the attack posting on social media warning residents to remain indoors. At first, Alexander DroZdenko said more than 20 UAVs had been destroyed, and later increased the estimate to more than 30 UAVs. There were reports of debris at various points across the region.

DroZdenko confirmed that there was a fire on one of the vessels in the port of Primorsk and later said it had been extinguished. He also confirmed a fire at a pumping station. He said there were no casualties, but reports indicate operations had been suspended at Primorsk.

Primorsk is a key part of Russian oil exports. At the terminus of the Baltic Pipeline System, it is reported to have 18 storage tanks with a total capacity of 900,000 tons of crude. Other parts of the facility handle light petroleum products. The terminal is reported to have an annual volume of 58 million tons.

Unconfirmed claims from unidentified sources at the Security Service of Ukraine told The Kyiv Independent that three pumping stations for the Ust-Luga port terminal were also damaged. It would be the second attack on that terminal in a matter of weeks.

Russian officials are claiming that a total of 221 Ukrainian drones were downed in a dozen locations across the country. Air Traffic at St. Petersburg’s airport was also delayed or diverted during the attack, which began on Thursday night and continued past midnight in the Leningrad region. It is being reported as one of the largest attacks staged by Ukraine since the start of the war three and a half years ago.

Ukrainian officials have said the attacks are in retaliation for Russia’s increased attacks and that they are targeting the income-producing oil sector. At the end of August, Ukraine attacked the Ust-Luga terminal with reports that as much as half of its capacity was taken offline. The White House later said that it also believed 20 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity had been disabled during August.

Russian officials recently revised their estimates for oil shipments during the current month. Reuters reported that the plan called for shipping 2.1 million barrels per day, which would be an 11 percent increase over the original plan.