Ukraine hits key Russian oil-loading port and 3 ‘shadow fleet’ tankers
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine launched a wave of attacks against Russian oil targets on Sunday, hitting a key Baltic Sea loading port and two tankers that Ukraine claimed were killed. It was used illegally to transport Russian crude oil.
A nighttime drone strike sparked a fire in the port of Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil export port on the Baltic Sea, according to Russian Regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko.
The port, operated by Russia’s state oil company Transneft, has the capacity to handle hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Primorsk, which was targeted multiple times in March, is 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine, between the Russian-Finnish border and Russia’s second-largest city, St. It is located between St. Petersburg.
Local Governor Drozdenko said the drone strike did not cause an oil spill but did not comment on casualties or damage.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces destroyed many military and other targets, while also causing serious damage to oil port infrastructure.
In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Zelenskyy said: “Another Russian Kalibr missile carrier is out of action. Major General Yevhen Khmara reported the successful destruction of targets in the port of Primorsk.” he said.
Ukrainian drones also hit the Karakurt missile carrier, a patrol boat and a tanker, according to Zelenskyy. Russia’s so-called shadow oil fleetIt was used to avoid Western sanctions and price caps on Russian energy.
In a separate post published early Sunday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had hit two more “shadow fleet” tankers near the entrance to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
“These tankers were actively used to transport oil and will no longer be used,” he said. He added that the operation was led by Ukrainian Chief of General Staff Andrii Hnatov.
Moscow did not immediately accept Zelenskyy’s claims about either attack.
Kyiv recently Stepped up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials argue that oil revenues directly finance Moscow’s large-scale occupation, now in its fifth year.
Drone strikes kill civilians near Odessa and Moscow
Two people were killed and three others were injured when Russian drones struck Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight Sunday, the Ukrainian Emergency Service reported. It was stated that the attack damaged three residential buildings.
The drones also hit the port infrastructure, causing a fire, which was later extinguished by emergency crews, the emergency service reported.
The agency stated that six people were injured in Russia’s Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine at night. It was stated that the passenger bus carrying 40 children was damaged, but there were no injuries.
In Russia, a 77-year-old man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike west of Moscow, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported on the Telegram messaging app. It said the deadly attack occurred near the town of Volokolamsk, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from central Moscow.
Vorobyov added that six UAVs were shot down in the Moscow region, which surrounds but does not include the Russian capital. According to mayor Sergei Sobyanin, at least five more drones were shot down as they approached Moscow.
Separately, a man, woman and child were injured in Russia’s western Smolensk region when debris from a Ukrainian drone flew into an apartment block, according to local Governor Vasily Anokhin.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday that a total of 334 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down overnight over Russia and occupied Crimea.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia has attacked Ukraine with 269 unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles by Sunday. Ukrainian forces shot down and repelled 249 UAVs, with hits from ballistic missiles and 19 UAVs recorded at 15 locations, the air force said in a Facebook update.
