Ukraine Strikes Major Russian Oil Port in Baltic with Drones, Hits Tankers in Black Sea
Al Jazeera
Ukraine struck Russia's Primorsk oil port in the Baltic and two tankers near Novorossiysk in the Black Sea with drones. The attack caused a fire but no spill, officials said, as both sides continue near-daily drone exchanges.
Ukrainian forces launched drones to strike Russia's Primorsk port on the Baltic Sea on Sunday, Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said. The attack caused no oil spill but sparked a fire in the town, which was extinguished. Over 60 drones were shot down overnight in the northwest area, Drozdenko added.
Primorsk is one of Russia's largest oil export hubs, with a capacity to handle up to one million barrels of oil per day. The port has been targeted multiple times in recent months as Ukraine ramps up strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and other targets, amid stalled U.S.-mediated talks to end the Ukraine war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces also struck two oil tankers from the shadow fleet in waters near Russia's Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea. "These tankers were actively used to transport oil – no longer," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "Ukraine's long-range strike capability will continue to be fully developed – at sea, in the air, and on land."
Both sides have been launching hundreds of explosive-laden drones at each other almost daily throughout the four-year war. Other Russian regions reported drone attacks over the weekend. Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov said Saturday that a 77-year-old man was killed in a village by a drone strike.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said four drones were shot down on approach to the Russian capital. Smolensk region Governor Vasily Anokhin said three people, including a child, were injured Sunday in a drone strike on an apartment building.
Attacks in Ukraine
Russian drone strikes in Ukraine killed at least three people nationwide, local officials said Sunday. Attacks on the southern Odesa region, home to key export ports, killed two, including a truck driver at a port, Governor Oleh Kiper said on social media. "Enemy drones hit three residential buildings, and two others were damaged… Port infrastructure and equipment were also damaged," Kiper said.
Elsewhere, Russian airstrikes on the front-line Kherson region in southern Ukraine killed one person, officials said. Russia launched 268 drones and one ballistic missile in overnight attacks, Ukraine's air force reported. In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops are gradually advancing toward the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, a senior Ukrainian military official said Saturday.
