Ukraine attacked the oil export port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea: what are the consequences?
3 May 12:19
On the night of May 2, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a massive drone attack on the Leningrad Region. Primorsk—one of the largest export ports on the Baltic Sea—was hit, according to regional governor Alexander Drozdov, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" citing Russian propaganda media.
According to him, a fire broke out at the facility but was extinguished by morning. There was no spill of petroleum products.
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Meanwhile, according to NASA’s FIRMS service, which tracks thermal anomalies, the fire at the port continues. Astra reports possible damage to the oil terminal and the Pantsir air defense system.
In total, over 60 drones were shot down over the region, the governor added. Due to the nighttime attack on the Leningrad Region, over 70 flights were delayed and nearly 20 were canceled at Pulkovo, writes Baza. Restrictions on flight arrivals and departures lasted six hours.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces began striking Russia’s largest oil export hubs in the Baltic—Primorsk and Ust-Luga—on March 20. As a result of the airstrikes, which intensified amid a temporary easing of U.S. sanctions against Russian oil due to the war in Iran, both ports suspended operations. As a result, by the end of March, exports via the Baltic had fallen to their lowest level since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
In Primorsk, according to satellite images, 40% of oil storage capacity—8 tanks with a capacity of 50,000 cubic meters each—had been destroyed by early April. In total, the port has 14 oil storage tanks and four diesel tanks. On April 5, another strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the facility caused a new leak of flammable materials.
The port’s capacity is approximately 1 million barrels of oil and 300,000 barrels of diesel fuel per day, making it a key transshipment point for Russia’s main Urals crude and low-sulfur diesel fuel. Last year, Primorsk exported 16.8 million tons of petroleum products, while Ust-Luga exported 32.9 million tons.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that overnight, air defense systems “intercepted and destroyed” 334 aircraft-type drones over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Oryol, Pskov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, and Tula regions.
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