The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out a drone strike on Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil-loading port on the Baltic Sea, overnight on September 12, according to a source, News.Az reports, citing the Kyiv Independent.
Primorsk in Leningrad Oblast serves as a key hub for Russia's "shadow fleet" of aging tankers used to avoid sanctions, the source said. Roughly 60 million tons of oil pass through the port every year, bringing Russia roughly $15 billion, the source added.
After the Ukrainian drone strike, fires broke out at one of the vessels and a pumping station, forcing the suspension of oil shipments, according to the source. This could allegedly cost Russia up to $41 million a day.
SBU drones also successfully struck three oil pumping stations that are part of a pipeline system funneling crude to the Ust-Luga port terminal in Leningrad Oblast, the source claimed.
Primorsk lies roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) from St. Petersburg and over 900 kilometers (550 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.
The statement comes after Russian officials and media reported a large-scale drone attack targeting Leningrad Oblast, Moscow, and other areas overnight on Sept. 12.
