During the night, explosions were heard in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast: the region was attacked by drones. The port in Prymorsk — one of Russia’s largest oil export terminals on the Baltic Sea — came under attack.

The attack was reported by the Telegram channel Exilenova+. According to local authorities, a fire broke out on the port’s territory, according to OBOZ.UA.

What is known

According to Exilenova+, during the night “good drones” reached the seaport in Prymorsk, Leningrad Oblast.

“The Defense Forces struck the seaport in Prymorsk in Leningrad Oblast, one of Russia’s largest oil export terminals on the Baltic Sea. The capacity of the pipeline system is up to 75 million tons of oil per year,” the statement said.

According to Exilenova+, the attacked port is important, in particular, for the functioning of Russia’s shadow fleet.

“The country’s largest oil port in this direction, with a capacity of up to 75 million tons per year, is operated by Transneft. It is from here that the main volume of Urals crude oil is shipped, including through the ‘shadow fleet’ to bypass sanctions. Striking such a hub directly hits Russia’s export logistics and foreign currency revenues,” the statement said.

The fire on the port’s territory was detected by NASA FIRMS satellites.

FIRMS satellites of NASA detect a fire at the port of Primorsk. Source: NASA FIRMS

Over time, the fire intensified.

FIRMS satellites detect multiple fire hotspots on the territory of the port. Source: NASA FIRMS

Local residents report that the fire is intensifying further

They added that after updated data from NASA FIRMS satellites, it also became known that a light petroleum products transshipment terminal is on fire.

“It is also worth noting that this concerns not only oil infrastructure but also terminals for transshipping light petroleum products — gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel. These are finished products with higher added value, so strikes on such facilities hit the most profitable part of exports and may affect the supply of Russia’s military logistics,” Exilenova+ emphasized.

Updated images from NASA FIRMS satellites. Source: NASA FIRMS

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the attack and shared preliminary results: both the tank farm and fuel infrastructure were hit.

The attack was also reluctantly confirmed by the governor of Leningrad Oblast, Oleksandr Drozdenko.

“At the port of Prymorsk, a fuel tank was damaged, causing a fire. Extinguishing efforts are underway, personnel have been evacuated. Defensive operations to repel the attack continue,” the Russian official wrote around 4 a.m.

According to him, Russian air defenses allegedly ‘shot down’ 35 drones. Half an hour later, he claimed ‘over 50 drones destroyed.’

Complaints about drone attacks in Leningrad Oblast began the day before. The local governor, Oleksandr Drozdenko, announced a “drone threat” to Russians earlier in the day. Since then, he has been carefully counting the “downed” drones.

At the same time, Drozdenko did not mention other “achievements” of Russian air defenses: besides footage of the blaze over the port area, videos appeared online showing the occupiers’ “operations” not only against drones but also against populated areas of the region.

One of these videos, according to the Russian independent outlet ASTRA, captured the explosion of a Russian air-defense missile about a kilometer from a military factory in Gachyn.

“An OSINT analyst from ASTRA examined the footage and concluded that it shows the explosion of a Russian air-defense missile. According to our analysis, the explosion occurred in a residential area near School No. 12. About a kilometer from the explosion site is the reverse-engineering enterprise VISKOM — Joint-Stock Company ‘Special Design and Technology Bureau VISKOM.’ The company specializes in developing and manufacturing close-combat weapons and explosive devices, as well as creating specialized equipment for security forces. It is included in the Russian defense-industrial complex registry,” the report stated.