Ukraine has struck the port of Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil-loading terminal on the Baltic Sea, with long-range drone attacks, igniting a fire at the facility that processes up to 1.5m barrels of oil and oil products per day.

The overnight strike on March 23 was part of a massive coordinated drone assault across multiple Russian regions, with the Russian Defence Ministry claiming 249 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down nationwide. Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed a fuel tank at Primorsk had been damaged, triggering a fire. “Firefighting is underway, personnel have been evacuated,” he said, without providing casualty figures.

Primorsk handles around 100m tons of oil and oil products annually, serving as the endpoint of the Baltic Pipeline System and functioning as a critical artery for Russian energy export revenues that continue to fund Moscow’s war effort. Its location – approximately 1,087 kmfrom Ukraine’s nearest border – underlines the growing reach and ambition of Kyiv’s long-range strike capability. The port was first attacked in September last year. 

Kyiv has not commented on the strikes. 

In related news, France intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Western Mediterranean on Friday, its third such seizure in recent months..

The vessel, the Deyna — a 250m long Mozambican-flagged tanker — was intercepted after sailing from the Russian port of Murmansk. It was located near Spain’s Balearic Islands and will be escorted to French waters for further investigation. The case has been referred to a prosecutor in Marseille. The operation was carried out in coordination with Britain, which assisted in tracking the vessel.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the seizure on X, stating: ”These ships, which circumvent international sanctions and violate the law of the sea, are war profiteers,. They line their pockets while helping finance Russia’s war effort.”

The French president also pushed back against US moves to ease restrictions on Russian oil sales — a decision taken to help stabilise energy markets disrupted by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Macron pledged Russia would get no respite, writing: “The war involving Iran will not deflect France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia’s war of aggression continues unabated.”

Nearly 600 vessels are currently subject to EU sanctions as suspected shadow fleet operators.