Ukrainian drones have again attacked the Russian port of Ust-Luga: what are the consequences?
29 March 11:17
Damage occurred at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga as a result of an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Sunday, March 29, according to Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdov, who did not provide further details.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Russian propaganda media.
“There is damage at the port of Ust-Luga. No casualties,” the governor’s statement reads.
Over the past week, the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga have been attacked by UAVs several times.
On March 22, both ports suspended “the loading of oil and petroleum products” following a drone attack.
According to the governor, several fuel tanks caught fire in the port of Primorsk on March 23 as a result of a UAV attack.
On March 25, a fire broke out in the port of Ust-Luga following a drone attack.
As a result of the attack, Novatek NVTK.MM suspended the processing of stable gas condensate (SGC) and oil exports from its complex in Ust-Luga.
Media sources also reported that a drone strike at the Ust-Luga terminal damaged a railway overpass used for unloading petroleum products from tankers, and the Ust-Luga Oil terminal stopped receiving fuel shipments on Wednesday.
The suspension of oil product exports via the Baltic port of Ust-Luga on March 25 following a drone attack could force major refineries in the European part of Russia to reduce processing due to difficulties in shipping products, market participants said.
Primorsk and Ust-Luga are Russia’s largest oil export terminals on the Baltic Sea. The port of Primorsk handles about 1 million barrels of crude oil per day and about 300,000 barrels of diesel fuel per day, making it a key transshipment point for Russia’s main Urals crude and Euro-5 low-sulfur diesel.
Ust-Luga ships about 700,000 barrels of oil per day, as well as crude oil, fuel oil, and vacuum gas oil (VGO).
