Key facts
- Drones struck the port area of Ust-Luga early on Wednesday, sparking a fire, governor Alexander Drozdenko said.
- A transformer substation in Ust-Luga experienced an emergency shutdown, Drozdenko said.
- NASA satellite images showed new heat anomalies across the whole Ust-Luga port area, possibly indicating multiple fires.
- Ust-Luga loads crude oil, fuels, coal, fertilizers and grain and hosts a refinery operated by Novatek.
- Ukrainian and Russian representatives are negotiating with U.S. mediation in talks that began on Tuesday.
Drones struck the port area of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea early on Wednesday, sparking a fire, according to Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region. In a Telegram post, Drozdenko said a preliminary investigation indicated the port area was hit and that efforts to extinguish the fire were underway. He said a transformer substation in Ust-Luga also experienced an emergency shutdown.
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System showed satellite images taken on Wednesday with many new heat anomalies across the whole Ust-Luga port area, which the report said could indicate multiple fires. No independent assessment of damage to port facilities was given.
Ust-Luga is the top Russian port for exports of oil and other commodities from the Baltic Sea. It loads crude oil, fuels, coal, fertilizers and grain, and hosts a refinery operated by Novatek. The port has been targeted multiple times by Ukraine, and some previous attacks have halted shipments and loadings of commodities there.
The drone attack came as Ukrainian and Russian representatives, with U.S. mediation, negotiate a way forward toward a peace agreement. The talks began on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, with Ukraine set to raise the idea of a direct meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. "I think that tomorrow the teams will discuss the possibility of meeting at the level of leaders. I'm not sure that Russia is ready, but we will raise this topic," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday evening.