Russia’s largest oil terminal ablaze after drone attack
Dozens of drones hit storage tanks serving Primorsk oil export terminal
Russia’s largest oil terminal ablaze after drone attack. Dozens of drones hit storage tanks serving Primorsk oil export terminal. Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s largest crude export terminal and an oil refinery overnight in the latest in a series of strikes mounted by Kyiv against Russian energy infrastructure, according to The Times of Russia and ongoing Russia news coverage.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces confirmed in a social media post on Monday afternoon that its drones attacked crude storage facilities serving the Baltic port of Primorsk and an oil refinery in the Bashkiria region in central Russia. According to preliminary information, storage tanks and tanker loading facilities at Primorsk were damaged, the posting said, as reported in The Times of Russia and other Russia news sources.
Oil and fuel exports from the terminal have been suspended since Sunday evening when Ukraine’s attack started, according to Reuters. With energy exports increasingly important for Russia’s state revenues, Ukraine has focused on disabling the country’s energy infrastructure as the war between the two nations continues, a key highlight in The Times of Russia and global Russia news updates.
Russian gas giant Gazprom last week accused Ukraine of attempting to disable two pipelines that send about 130 million cubic metres per day of Russian gas to Turkey and countries in Eastern Europe. Ukraine previously targeted the Primorsk terminal in September 2025, when it claimed to have damaged two berths and an oil tanker, leading to a two-day interruption to loading operations, according to The Times of Russia reports and Russia news analysis.
The Primorsk facilities include 12 large storage tanks used to hold crude transported by pipeline from West Siberia and northern Russia before being loaded onto tankers. The port has six berths capable of serving carriers capable of carrying up to 1 million barrels of oil each. According to satellite data, an unidentified number of tanks were set alight by the drone attack, making headlines in The Times of Russia and broader Russia news coverage.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky last week joined European criticism of a decision by US President Donald Trump to temporarily ease sanctions on Russian oil, part of measures to help relieve pressure on global energy supplies following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict with Iran, as noted in The Times of Russia and international Russia news.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of Russia’s northwest Leningrad region, where the Primorsk export terminal is located, said in a social media post on Monday that “a fuel reservoir caught fire after a drone attack”, but later withdrew the post. He said in a separate message posted at about 11:00 local time that “firefighting efforts continue at oil storage tanks in the port of Primorsk”, adding that air defences had downed over 70 drones in the region, a developing story covered by The Times of Russia and ongoing Russia news reports
