On the night from Saturday to Sunday, a fire occurred in the port village of Ust-Luga, Leningrad Region. Eyewitnesses and media reported drones that attacked the marine terminal of the world’s largest gas company and oil products exporter Novatek.
Around three o’clock in the morning on Sunday, Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko reported in his telegram channel that a fire occurred at the terminal of the Novatek company in the port of Ust-Luga.
Port at Ust Luga, 120km west of St. Petersburg, Russia, attacked by drones early on Jan. 21. The port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region was attacked by drones
Fire broke out at the Novatek terminal. Media report 2 UAVs attacked a gas storage facility in the port at 0320. pic.twitter.com/TVh24IGeBi
— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) January 21, 2024
“There were no casualties as a result of the fire at the terminal of the Novatek company in the port of Ust-Luga. The personnel have been evacuated,” he said.
The authorities involved the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Lenoblpozhspas in extinguishing the fire, and by Sunday morning rescuers had localized the fire. As of 13:00 Moscow time, one tank with a volume of 100 cubic meters was still burning.
Russia's Novatek says its suspends operations at Baltic Sea terminal after fire https://t.co/jXHfR87gzB pic.twitter.com/ndNRMctGeA
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2024
As a result of the fire, two tanks and a pumping station were damaged. reported TASS agency, citing the duty service of the Kingisepp district administration.
About damage to a large gas storage facility wrote “Fontanka”.
“A high alert regime has been introduced in the Kingisepp district. The head of the district administration, Yuri Zapalatsky, chairs a meeting of the operational headquarters. Responsible specialists from the Leningrad region administration, on my instructions, went to the site,” the head of the region reported.
At night, on approach to St. Petersburg, local residents filmed drones in the video. According to eyewitnesses, they were heading towards the Kingisepp district, where the terminals of the port of Ust-Luga are located.
Additional footage of fire at the Ust Luga port in Russia pic.twitter.com/gyts6p8k0m
— Giorgi Revishvili (@revishvilig) January 21, 2024
The sound of drones and explosions was heard by local residents, who wrote to the telegram channels “Caution Sobchak”, Baza and Shot.
At the time of the fire, there were several ships and tankers from Panama, Belgium, Oman and Libya in the port, Fontanka reported.
Citing its sources, the Ukrainian publication RBC-Ukraine reported on Sunday afternoon that “the targets were accurately targeted by the SBU drones – the hits were accurate.”
The drone attack on the terminal of the Novatek company in Ust-Luga, Leningrad region, was organized by the Security Service of Ukraine, they report RBC-Ukraine, “Ukrainian Truth” And “Hromadske” with reference to sources.
According to Hromadske’s interlocutor, the terminal was hit with precision, which resulted in a large-scale fire. The source also emphasized that this attack will significantly complicate fuel logistics for the Russian military.
💥 RUSSIA FAILED TO SHOOT DOWN THE UKRAINIAN DRONES DESPITE HAVING 3 HOURS TO DO SO
Russian air defenses identified 2 Ukrainian drones at around 12:30am heading toward St. Petersburg and failed to intercept. The drones successfully bombed the Ust-Luga Port at 03:20am. pic.twitter.com/yoHQayGseO— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) January 21, 2024
“The Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. They process fuel there, which, in particular, is supplied to the Russian troops,” added the RBC-Ukraine source.
Later in the press service of Novatek RBC stated, that the cause of the fire at the terminal in the port of Ust-Luga, according to preliminary data, “was an external influence.” The company added that the technological process at the terminal was stopped, and an operational headquarters was created to eliminate the consequences.
The day before yesterday, a drone struck a fuel storage facility in Bryansk, western Russia. Moscow blamed Kyiv. On Thursday, a Ukrainian attack on a Russian oil terminal in the Baltic failed, according to Russian officials.
More Stories
Ukrainians died in Germany, a Russian is suspected of murder
Belarus is ready to fight, having adopted a new doctrine
IMF: "Huge US debt poses serious risk to global economy"