Drones explode in the Leningrad region almost every day: serious fires broke out in Baltic ports last week. Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure amid surging oil prices triggered by the new war in Iran. Other countries are already asking it to stop due to the fuel crisis, summarizes the BBC Russian Service, assessing the interim results of the intensive Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks.
This is how apocalyptic the Novatek gas condensate processing complex in the port of Ust-Luga looked after the strike by Ukrainian drones. The fire spread to most of the complex.
In late March, Ukrainian drones struck two Russian ports in the Baltic Sea — a significant portion of Russian oil exports passes through them.
On March 23, Ukrainian drones attacked the port of Primorsk, and two days later, on March 25, the port of Ust-Luga was hit — a massive fire started there, which could not be extinguished for several days. Plumes of black smoke were visible even from Finland.
On Friday, March 27, a new strike was launched against the ports, and the fire reignited with new force. After this, residents of St. Petersburg complained about smog and the smell of burning — however, meteorologists did not confirm that this was related to the fires in the Baltic ports.
On Sunday, drones again attacked Ust-Luga, and the fire flared up with renewed intensity. In the evening, Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko reported that the fire in Ust-Luga had been localized, and "the consequences at other facilities have been eliminated."
According to satellite images analyzed by the BBC and data from NASA Firms fire monitoring service, the fire in both ports does not appear to be fully extinguished: thermal activity is still being recorded there. The latest available satellite images from last weekend show that, presumably, technical or fuel tanks are burning.
In Ust-Luga, it is visible that tankers and other vessels are currently at anchor. According to Marine Traffic vessel tracking service data as of 14:00 on March 30, tanker traffic (vessels with transponders switched on) in the port area continues, but vessels are mostly distributed across the water area, rather than being near the shore where new drone attacks might occur.
Tankers with transponders switched on near the port of Ust-Luga as of 14:00 Moscow time on March 30, 2026. Photo: Marine Traffic
Earlier, Astra reported that three tankers were damaged during the attack. According to Marine Traffic data, they are afloat in the Baltic Sea, and one of them, Aisopos, is en route to Denmark.
A source, on condition of anonymity, told Reuters in the first days of the fire that the port of Ust-Luga had been cordoned off, and oil tanks were indeed burning there. No casualties were reported.
After Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga is Russia's largest port. Tankers carrying Russian oil and fuel for export depart from here and from Primorsk.
According to Reuters' calculations, approximately 40% of Russia's oil export capacity, amounting to about 2 million barrels per day, was halted due to this attack.
This occurred during a period of sharp increase in oil prices, caused by the war in Iran. Brent crude cost about $100 per barrel last week, while Russian Urals has been sold at a discount of about $30 to Brent in recent months. Russia, meanwhile, faces significant budget problems that a sharp rise in oil prices could partially solve.
For comparison: this is what the terminal area in Ust-Luga looked like on March 22 before the Ukrainian strikes. Photo: Planet Labs
The strikes, apparently, affected technological tanks and adjacent infrastructure. Since thick smoke continues to billow from this area in the freshest available image from March 28, it is impossible to accurately assess the damage.
Images from March 26 show that at least two tanks and adjacent infrastructure are engulfed in flames. Photo: Planet Labs
According to Reuters and Ukrainian authorities, the attack presumably affected the complex of Russia's largest independent gas producer, Novatek, in Ust-Luga, where processing plants and part of the fuel tanks were damaged. Judging by images from Planet Labs and Copernicus Sentinel, the territory of the oil loading terminal of Rosneft's subsidiary is also presumably affected.
According to NASA Firms data, thermal activity continued to be recorded in the previously attacked area. Photo: NASA Firms
According to Marine Traffic data, there are about 40 vessels in the port's waters today. Half of them are service vessels, and the rest are inactive tankers and cargo ships. At least four of them are sanctioned, according to official registries: Noyabrsk, Navik, Ryazan, and Orenburg.
Judging by this image, vessels are avoiding the pier near which the tanks are burning. Photo: Planet Labs
Primorsk resumed oil loading the day after the first strike. According to Marine Traffic data, at least seven vessels with transponders switched on are in the port's waters, three of which are Russian tugboats, and two more are tankers from sanction lists for transporting Russian oil - Flora 1 and Rigel.
The port of Primorsk, according to media reports, resumed oil loading a day after the first strike, and vessels were docked there last weekend. Photo: Planet Labs
According to data from Planet Labs and NASA Fires monitoring service, in the case of both Ust-Luga and Primorsk, thick smoke clouds from the fires rose for at least two days after the attacks. In Primorsk, judging by the available images, it can be said that at least four fuel tanks were seriously damaged and burned.
On Friday, March 27, Reuters reported that Russian oil companies might declare force majeure regarding supplies from major Baltic Sea ports. Two sources told the agency that companies had warned buyers about this.
Ukraine does not hide that these strikes are aimed at depriving Russia of oil money.
"Hot results of the week: even from space, it is visible how Ukraine is fulfilling a point of its 'War Plan' that entails depriving the Russian Federation of economic resources to continue aggression," the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated on Facebook. "During the period of rising oil prices, key Russian oil export capacities in the Baltic Sea were significantly damaged by several air strikes at a distance of about 900 km."
Ukraine is trying to negate Russia's profits from soaring oil prices and easing sanctions. Due to rising oil prices, US President Donald Trump allowed third countries to buy Russian fuel for 30 days.
As early as late January, Ukraine stated that a section of the "Druzhba" oil pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to the West, was damaged by Russian strikes: supplies stopped on January 27. At that time, Slovakia and Hungary demanded that Kyiv immediately restore supplies via the "Druzhba" oil pipeline.
The oil terminal in Novorossiysk, with a capacity of up to 700,000 barrels per day, has been operating below planned indicators since being damaged by Ukrainian drones in early March.
Some other countries are asking Kyiv to stop hitting the Russian oil sector.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was receiving such requests from foreign "partners":
"After such a global energy crisis, we have indeed received signals from some of our partners regarding how — how to reduce our responses to the oil sector, the energy sector of the Russian Federation," Zelenskyy told reporters.
He added that Ukraine would agree not to target the Russian energy sector if Russia, in turn, stopped striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
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