Ukraine Launches “Unprecedented” Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Terminals
Russia’s oil exporting capabilities at its two main Baltic Sea terminals have been reportedly significantly impacted by a sustained series of attacks this week by Ukraine. Authorities for the Leningrad region wrote online on Friday, March 27, that the area had been on “high alert” since March 22 as it attempted to repel “unprecedented attacks by enemy drones.”
New images captured from satellites appeared to show significant fires burning at both Ust-Luga and Primorsk. Reuters is estimating that up to 40 percent of the oil export capacity has been suspended while citing some sources saying it could be mid-April until it is restored. Others said there is no timeline for the restoration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was highly critical of efforts to reduce sanctions on Russian oil, saying it would permit Russia to sustain the war. He called on the Europeans to keep the pressure up as the United States issued a suspension permitting Russian oil loaded on tankers to be sold outside the sanctions.
New near-infrared satellite imagery from Vantor shows active fires still burning inside the Ust-Luga refinery complex in northern Russia after the Ukrainian strike.
The imagery highlights multiple heat sources across the facility, indicating the fire is ongoing and affecting… pic.twitter.com/4RjfEzfPrB
— MizarVision Watcher (@MizarVision) March 27, 2026
New imagery collected on March 27 shows a large fire at the Ust-Luga oil terminal in northern Russia. Multiple oil storage tanks are on fire and dark smoke is billowing from the area.
????@vantortechpic.twitter.com/EWTYIsNIRh
— George Barros (@georgewbarros) March 27, 2026
As the spring offensives are getting underway, it appears Ukraine has devoted a significant level of resources to the assault on the Baltic oil export operations. It seems determined to impact the export capabilities and hence the flow of money to Russia.
The attacks began Sunday night and continued into Monday, with both facilities being hit. As of Friday, reports are saying the attacks were sustained over four of the last five nights and consecutively on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Russian officials said that they had succeeded overnight into Friday in shooting down 36 attack drones in the St. Petersburg and Leningrad zone. Overall, Russian authorities said they downed 125 Ukrainian drones in 13 regions in the latest wave of the attack.
Reports on Monday said there were fires in tanks at Primorsk while operations had been temporarily suspended at Ust-Luga as a safety precaution. The attacks on Wednesday seemed more devastating with reports of a major fire at Ust-Luga. Reports said it was still burning on Thursday when the latest round of attacks began. Satellite images appeared to show fires at both port facilities, with as many as 30 to 35 tanks in the north of Ust-Luga damaged or on fire.
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Ukraine also said it targeted the railroad links at the port, with 300 to 500 meters off track damaged. At least two waves struck the ports on Thursday night, with the military authorities saying they believed, in addition to the tanks, that they had been successful in damaging the loading connections for the tankers. Elsewhere they said they had also hit two refineries as well as other strikes in Russia and Crimea.
The Russian Interfax news agency is reporting that Transneft was trying to redirect oil exports away from the damaged facilities but admitted it would be difficult due to the large volumes. Primorsk handles a million barrels per day, and Ust-Luga is a larger facility. Reuters is also reporting that Russian producers are warning that they could have to declare force majeure in the coming days on the supplies booked for the Baltic ports.
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