An oil depot in the port of Primorsk in Russia’s Leningrad Region continues to burn for the second day. The thick smoke from the fire can be seen on satellite images, even though it is cloudy, the Russian service of Radio Liberty reported.
The oil depot was hit on the night of 23 March, resulting in a temporary halt to fuel shipments.
The attack on “oil product tanks” in the port of Primorsk in Russia’s Leningrad Region was confirmed by the region’s governor, Alexander Drozdenko. According to him, “more than 50 units of equipment are involved in the extinguishment.”
The Russian service of Radio Liberty published satellite images showing the aftermath of the strike the day before, noting that at least four fuel tanks were “damaged” rather than just one, as local authorities claim.
A Radio Liberty source in Ukraine’s Security Service said that on the night of March 23, drones from its Alfa special operations centre together with other units of the Defence Forces (SBS, SDF, GUR and GPSU) attacked the oil terminal of the Primorsk port in the Leningrad region, after which a fire broke out.
“This is Russia’s largest oil port on the Baltic Sea and a key export hub. A significant part of oil shipments to foreign markets passes through it, including through the” shadow fleet.” In 2025 alone, more than 46.6 million tonnes of oil were transshipped through it,” the source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment on the situation officially.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, various facilities on Russian territory have been subjected to air strikes. The most frequent targets in 2024 and 2025 were oil refineries (refineries). Russian facilities in the occupied territories of Ukraine have also been targeted.
The AFU General Staff confirmed most of the attacks, saying that the Ukrainian Defence Forces were “systematically implementing measures aimed at reducing the combat potential of the Russian occupation forces and forcing Russia to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine”.
Secretary of the Russian Security Council and former Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said on 17 March that due to the development of Ukrainian unmanned systems, no Russian region is protected from attack.