Ukraine says Russia's Primorsk oil export port damaged in attack

Tony Halpin, Bloomberg News on May 3, 2026

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Ukraine said it damaged Russia’s Primorsk port on the Baltic Sea, a key oil export hub, in a drone barrage that also targeted several vessels.

A Karakurt-class missile ship, patrol boat and tanker from Russia’s shadow fleet were hit in the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday in a post on the X platform.

“Significant damage was also inflicted on the infrastructure of the oil terminal port,” he said, without elaborating. Russian officials haven’t confirmed the claim.

Leningrad regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko said earlier on Telegram that a fire broke out at Primorsk and was quickly extinguished as air defenses downed more than 60 Ukrainian drones overnight. He didn’t indicate the extent of any damage.

Primorsk is a vital cog in Russia’s oil industry, having typically exported well over 1 million barrels of crude oil and diesel daily before a series of attacks by Ukraine this year as part of Kyiv’s broader campaign against ports and refineries. The port temporarily suspended tanker loadings on March 23 following a drone assault.

Ukraine is intensifying strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in an effort to curb the Kremlin’s revenues amid higher oil prices linked to the Iran conflict. Operations at the Black Sea port of Tuapse have been intermittently disrupted after repeated attacks over about two weeks.

Separately, two tankers from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet were struck near the entrance to the Port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, Zelenskyy said in an earlier post. The vessels were used to transport oil and are no longer operational, he said.

Russia said it faced 334 drone attacks in total overnight, including near Moscow. A fire broke out at a factory during a strike involving 14 Ukrainian drones in the Voronezh region in Russia’s south, regional Governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s armed forces said its defenses downed 249 out of 268 Russian drone attacks and also recorded a ballistic missile strike.

A drone flying in Russia’s Leningrad region violated airspace in nearby Finland overnight, according to a statement from the Finnish defense forces. Estonia’s Defense Forces also reported a brief drone incursion into its airspace.

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