Flames from Russia’s Ust-Luga oil port were visible from the Estonian city of Narva on Wednesday, November 11, following a reported Ukrainian drone attack.
Several drones struck the port area, injuring three workers, while a transformer substation shut down in an emergency, Leningrad region Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko claimed.
‘Something is Burning’
Putin in October 2024 Kremlin. Image Credit: Russian Government.
Putin Back in 2023. Image Credit: Kremlin.
“Their lives are not in danger,” Drozdenko said.
“Something is burning in the area near the port of Ust-Luga, near St. Petersburg,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, wrote on Telegram.
It was unclear how much damage had been caused or whether there had been any disruption to tanker loading.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said 627 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Sea of Azov.
Drozdenko reported a preliminary figure of 150 intercepted drones in the Leningrad region, making it the region’s largest such attack this year, according to calculations by the TASS state news agency.
Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg was temporarily closed, and flights from Istanbul and Hurghada were diverted to Helsinki.
A drone also struck Russia’s second-largest refinery in Kirishi, in the same region, on November 9, sparking a fire.
Renewed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries since late October have affected facilities accounting for around 30% of the country’s primary refining capacity, two industry sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, debris from intercepted drones struck an apartment building in Yartsevo, in Russia’s western Smolensk region, causing a fire and killing two people, Governor Vasily Anokhin said.
Ten people were rescued from the immediate fire zone. “After the building is inspected, a decision will be made on whether people can return to their apartments,” he added.
The attacks came as two days of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi ended on Wednesday. Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said, “We agreed in principle on a new large-scale prisoner exchange,” with details to follow.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said he and Steve Witkoff would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.
The talks ended without a breakthrough on ending the war.
Baltic Nations On Alert as NATO Jets Scramble
Estonia has issued air threat alerts across eight counties. Residents in southern Estonia were told to “seek shelter if you spot a drone.” In Lithuania, NATO fighter jets were scrambled after an unidentified drone entered the country’s airspace.
Two attempts to shoot it down failed. Giedrius Premeneckas, chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ Defense Staff, noted that “We do not currently have confirmed information about the type of drone.”
Latvia’s military said three drones had entered its airspace overnight.
Two briefly crossed the eastern border, while a third entered from Lithuania, flew north across Latvia and continued toward Estonia. Latvian air defense units and NATO fighter jets were activated.
Finland temporarily restricted air and sea traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland after an unidentified drone was suspected of entering Finnish airspace for approximately five minutes, the Defense Ministry said. “Any suspected violation of territory is taken very seriously. An investigation into the incident is underway,” Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said.
The Finnish Border Guard is investigating.
Ust-Luga and Sanctions
The European Union imposed a transaction ban on Ust-Luga and two other Russian seaports, Primorsk and Novorossiysk, in February 2025. The European Commission said the ports were “used to transport Russian crude oil by using the shadow fleet and other irregular and high-risk shipping practices.” Exemptions were introduced to protect essential legal trade.
On October 12, the French navy boarded the oil tanker DF Peak in the Indian Ocean, more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the vessel was “suspected of sailing under a false flag and of being involved in illicit fuel-trafficking activities.” It was subsequently escorted toward Réunion for further investigation.
Past Attacks Disrupt Oil Loading
Ust-Luga handles crude oil, petroleum products, grain and other commodities.
An attack on March 25 disrupted crude oil loading for almost two weeks, Reuters reported.
The port can load approximately 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
Another attack occurred on March 29, when Ukraine’s Security Service said its drones had caused “serious damage” to an oil terminal.
In April, Estonia’s Environmental Board found heavy fuel oil along the country’s northern coast and traced the pollution to the Ust-Luga region. “At the moment, this could be pollution that has reached us as a consequence of the war,” inspector Marit Mändmets told ERR.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said it struck the Novatek complex at Ust-Luga on September 1. “Key elements of the oil refining plant and technological equipment were damaged,” the agency said.
The reported damage could not be independently verified immediately.
Novatek says its facility processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, a ship fuel component, and gasoil.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
