Russia’s Baltic ports continue to burn 48 hours after Ukrainian drone strikes

Fires have continued to rage at some of Russia’s most important Baltic Sea ports after massive Ukrainian drone strikes caused significant damage on Monday and Tuesday night, Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported on Thursday.

As a result of the extensive Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, 40% of Russia’s crude oil export capacity was out of action, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The northwestern port of Ust-Luga, near the border with Estonia, was targeted in one of Ukraine’s largest drone strikes of the year on Tuesday night, and is still on fire 48 hours later.

The port is a crucial export hub for Russian fossil fuels, hosting a large LNG terminal as well as a significant crude oil export terminal.

Ukrainian drone strikes on Monday struck the port of Primorsk, which is also in the northwestern Leningrad region, causing a large fire. The port, another crucial export terminal, was reportedly still on fire on Wednesday, with sources telling Reuters that smoke was visible from mainland Finland.

According to Russian news agency Interfax on Thursday, firefighters have been able to bring the fires at both ports under control, but smaller fires within the facilities are continuing to burn.