Blaze at Russia's Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga after major Ukrainian drone attack


MOSCOW, March 25 - ⁠A fire broke out at Russia's Baltic ⁠Sea port of Ust-Luga, a major oil ‌export hub, after a major Ukrainian drone attack, Russian officials said on Wednesday.

Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian ​oil refineries and export routes ⁠over recent weeks in ⁠an attempt to weaken Russia's war economy.

Ust-Luga and Primorsk, ⁠on ‌the Gulf of Finland, were forced to suspend exports of oil and crude ⁠on Sunday after drone attacks but they ​had restarted ‌loadings on Monday, Reuters reported.

But Alexander Drozdenko, ⁠the governor ​of the northern Leningrad region, said on Wednesday that a fire had broken out at the port ⁠after a Ukrainian drone attack across ​the region. No casualties were reported.

The extent of the damage to the port was not immediately clear. ⁠Unverified video on Russian Telegram channels showed flames leaping into the night sky. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that ​the terminal had been sealed ⁠off and that reservoirs were ablaze.

Russia's defence ministry ​said that 389 Ukrainian drones ‌had been shot down across ​Russia overnight, including over the Moscow region.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

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