Ukraine’s security service claimed it had conducted a successful overnight drone attack on the Ust-Luga gas terminal in the Leningrad region of Russia, multiple Ukrainian media outlets reported, citing sources.
“The Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. Fuel is refined there, which, among other things, is also supplied to Russian troops,” Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited one source as saying.
A fire broke out overnight at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, forcing the company to suspend some operations there.
A fiery explosion was seen at a gas export terminal near St Petersburg in Russia on Sunday.
It is not known if the blast is related to the Ukraine war, with Kyiv never admitting to its attacks, although nobody has been reported to be injured.
RIA Novosti news agency said the cause of the fire is, instead, not known even though drones had been seen in the area, a flying device used by both sides.
The blaze was at a site run by Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek, 170km south-west of St Petersburg.
The Ust-Luga complex is located on the Gulf of Finland, about 170 km west of St. Petersburg.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of Russia’s Leningrad region, said on the Telegram messaging app that there had been no casualties and all workers had been safely evacuated.
Russian news agencies reported that two storage tanks and a pumping station had been damaged, but the fire was now under control.
Novatek said in a statement that it had suspended some operations after the fire, which it said was the result of “external influence.”
In a press statement to Russian media outlet RBC, the company said the fire was the result of an “external influence”. It also said it had paused operations at the port.
Yuriy Zapalatskiy, the head of Russia’s Kingisepp district where the port is based, said in a statement there were no casualties, but the district has been placed on high alert.
News outlet Fontanka reported two drones had been detected flying towards St Petersburg on Sunday morning, but they were redirected towards the Kingisepp area.
The Russian Ministry of Defence did not report any drone activity in the Kingisepp area in its daily briefing. It said four Ukrainian drones had been downed in Russia’s Smolensk region, and two more had been shot down in the Oryol and Tula regions.
Russian officials previously confirmed a Ukrainian drone had been downed on the outskirts of St Petersburg on Thursday.
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