Authorities in the Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia have confirmed that the Port of Primorsk was targeted by a drone strike in the early morning (local time) of Monday, March 23, The Moscow Times has reported.
The attack ended up damaging fuel storage tanks at the port's oil export hub. This then ignited a fire, prompting the evacuation of all on-site personnel.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko remarked that the strike against the port was part of a massive coordinated Ukrainian attack.
Drozdenko said that Russian air defence units have successfully intercepted more than 70 drones targeting Leningrad since Sunday, March 22.
Export activities at the port were still suspended as of Monday afternoon.
Operated by state oil company Transneft and located more than 1,080 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, Primorsk is one of the largest oil export terminals along Russia's Baltic Sea coast, with a rated annual export capacity of around 100 million tons of oil and oil products.
