- Category
- Latest news
Drone Strike Sets Fuel Tank Ablaze at Russia’s Largest Baltic Oil Port Near Saint Petersburg
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Drones struck Russia’s main oil export port on the Baltic Sea overnight, damaging fuel infrastructure and sparking a fire at the facility, according to the Russian governor Aleksandr Drozdenko on March 23.
The attack targeted the port of Primorsk in Russia’s Leningrad region, with local residents reporting multiple explosions in the area during the night.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Around 4 a.m., regional governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that a fuel storage tank had been damaged and caught fire. Images shared by witnesses showed thick black smoke rising above the site.
According to the governor, Russian air defenses intercepted more than 60 attack drones during the incident, though the extent of the overall damage remains unclear.
The Defense Forces struck the seaport in Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast, one of Russia’s largest oil export terminals on the Baltic Sea. The pipeline system has a capacity of up to 75 million tons of oil per year. pic.twitter.com/f8NXAW9Ieg
— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) March 23, 2026
Primorsk is Russia’s largest oil export port on the Baltic Sea and serves as a critical hub for shipping crude oil and petroleum products abroad.
The port is the endpoint of the Baltic Pipeline System and has a throughput capacity of roughly one million barrels per day.
Its maritime infrastructure includes nine berths, most of which are dedicated to handling oil tankers. With water depths reaching up to 18.2 meters, the port can accommodate vessels with a deadweight of up to 150,000 tons and lengths exceeding 300 meters.
🔥🛢️ Russia: Ukraine has sanctioned Russian oil, cutting off about 20% of daily export volume.
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) March 23, 2026
The Port of Primorsk reportedly exported 1.0-1.5 million barrels per day through the Baltic Sea. https://t.co/c07K6JH6lg
Storage operations are centered around a large tank farm, which includes 18 major reservoirs with capacities of 50,000 tons each.
Additional facilities support refined petroleum products and emergency drainage systems. In total, the terminal can store approximately 921,000 tons of crude oil and 240,000 tons of petroleum products.
Earlier, drones struck an area near the Tolyattikauchuk and KuibyshevAzot chemical plants in Russia’s Samara region overnight, with footage and open-source analysis indicating a fire near the two facilities.
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
