Ukraine Strikes Key Russian Oil Port, Targets “Shadow Fleet” Tankers in Escalating Campaign

Ukraine launched a series of airstrikes on Russian oil infrastructure on Sunday, targeting a major Baltic Sea export terminal and multiple vessels allegedly linked to Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet,” in a significant escalation of its campaign against Russia’s energy sector.

According to the Associated Press, the attacks included a nighttime drone strike on the port of Primorsk Port, Russia’s largest oil export facility on the Baltic Sea.

Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that the strike sparked a fire at the port but said there was no oil spill. He did not provide immediate details regarding casualties or the extent of the damage.

The Primorsk facility, operated by Russian state pipeline company Transneft, handles hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day. Located more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine, the port sits between the Finnish border and the city of Saint Petersburg.

The site has been targeted multiple times in recent months, underscoring its strategic importance in Russia’s energy export network.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces inflicted significant damage on both military and infrastructure targets.

In a statement posted on Telegram, Zelenskyy claimed that another Russian Kalibr missile carrier had been disabled and that Ukrainian forces successfully struck multiple assets at Primorsk.

He also said drones targeted a Karakurt-class missile ship, a patrol vessel, and an oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s covert “shadow fleet”, a network of ships used to bypass Western sanctions and price caps on Russian oil exports.

In a separate operation earlier Sunday, Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian forces struck two additional tankers near the entrance to the port of Port of Novorossiysk.

“These tankers were actively used to transport oil. Now they will not be used,” he said, adding that the operation was led by Ukraine’s Chief of the General Staff, Andriy Hnatov.

Russian authorities have not immediately commented on the Ukrainian claims regarding either set of strikes.

Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian oil export infrastructure in recent weeks, arguing that energy revenues play a critical role in financing Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now entering its fifth year.

The latest strikes signal a continued shift toward targeting economic lifelines, particularly oil exports, as Ukraine seeks to weaken Russia’s war capacity while drawing attention to enforcement gaps in international sanctions.