Drone attack sparks blaze at Russia’s Baltic port

A fire broke ​out at Russia's Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, a ‌major oil export hub, after a major Ukrainian drone attack, Russian officials said on Wednesday.

Ukraine has stepped ​up drone attacks on Russian oil refineries ​and export routes over recent weeks in an ⁠attempt to weaken Russia's war economy.

Ust-Luga ​and Primorsk, on the Gulf of Finland, were forced ​to suspend exports of oil and crude on Sunday after drone attacks but they had restarted loadings on Monday, ​Reuters reported.

But Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of ​the northern Leningrad region, said on Wednesday that a fire ‌had ⁠broken out at the port after a Ukrainian drone attack across the region. No casualties were reported.

The extent of the damage to the ​port was not ​immediately clear. ⁠Unverified video on Russian Telegram channels showed flames leaping into the night ​sky. A source who spoke on condition ​of ⁠anonymity told Reuters that the terminal had been sealed off and that reservoirs were ablaze.

Russia's ⁠defence ministry ​said that 389 Ukrainian drones ​had been shot down across Russia overnight, including over the ​Moscow region.

-Reuters