Drone strike sparks massive fire at Russia's strategic Ust-Luga port
Illustrative photo: Consequences of the attack on Ust-Luga port (General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)
A fire and damage have been recorded at the Ust-Luga port in Russia's Leningrad Oblast following a drone attack, according to regional governor Alexander Drozdenko.
What is known about the attack
According to Drozdenko, emergency services are working at the scene of the incident, and repelling the attack was still ongoing at the time of the report. Information about the consequences and scale of destruction is being clarified.
Russian authorities did not specify which particular facility in the port area was affected.
According to local authorities, a total of 37 drones were allegedly shot down over the Leningrad region overnight.
Why this port is important for Russia
Ust-Luga is one of the largest maritime commercial ports in Russia on the Baltic Sea, located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. It handles enormous volumes of strategic raw materials - oil, petroleum products, coal, and mineral fertilizers.
Large industrial and transshipment complexes operate in the port zone, including facilities belonging to Novatek and EuroChem. Due to its strategic importance for Russia's economy and defense-industrial complex, the port has repeatedly come under drone attacks.
The Ust-Luga port has come under strikes by the Defense Forces not for the first time. On August 14, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a Novatek facility in the same port; drones then massively attacked Moscow and Leningrad Oblast, with the regional governor reporting dozens of drones shot down.
Later, it became known that the Defense Forces struck the Ust-Luga port - damage and a fire were recorded in the area of the facility at that time.
