A Ukrainian drone attack hit the key Russian commodity export hub Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea early on Wednesday, as Russia and Ukraine continue to trade strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure amid ongoing U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi.
Drones hit the port area of Ust-Luga, Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the Leningrad region, said in a Telegram post on Wednesday.
A preliminary investigation indicates that the drone attack struck the port area of Ust-Luga, sparking a fire. Efforts to extinguish the fire are underway, the governor said early on Wednesday local time, adding that a transformer substation in Ust-Luga also experienced an emergency shutdown.
NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System showed satellite images taken on Wednesday, with many new heat anomalies today across the whole Ust-Luga port area, potentially indicating multiple fires.
Ust-Luga, the top Russian port for exports of oil and other commodities from the Baltic Sea, has been targeted multiple times by Ukraine, which this year has intensified its campaign to cripple domestic fuel supply in Russia and Moscow’s export revenues by hitting refineries and oil export infrastructure.
The Ust-Luga port loads crude oil, fuels, coal, fertilizers, and grain and is the key export outlet for Russia out of the Baltic Sea area.
The site also hosts a refinery operated by Novatek.
Some of the previous attacks at Ust-Luga, which have been dozens since the war began in 2022, have halted shipments and loadings of commodities at the export port.
Wednesday’s drone attacks came as Ukrainian and Russian representatives are negotiating – with U.S. mediation – a way forward to a peace agreement.
The talks, which began on Tuesday, continue on Wednesday with meetings at which Ukraine will raise the idea of a direct meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian presidents.
“I think that tomorrow the teams will discuss the possibility of meeting at the level of leaders. I’m not sure that Russia is ready, but we will raise this topic,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday evening.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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