Several dozen tankers anchored in Gulf of Finland after attacks on Russian ports
According to Reuters, dozens of shadow fleet tankers were left anchored in the Gulf of Finland as a result of drone attacks which caused Russia's Ust-Luga and Primorsk terminals to stop loading petroleum products.
The recent drone attacks targeting Baltic Sea ports are among the largest strikes so far against Russia's oil export facilities during the four-year war.
According to unverified videos published on Telegram, massive black plumes of smoke rose into the sky on Wednesday. The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported that the smoke was visible even from tens of kilometers away on the other side of the Gulf of Finland.
Video from morning of 25th March shows a plume of smoke from Primorsk terminal. pic.twitter.com/FTxdDtzbwv
— Black Bird Group (@Black_BirdGroup) March 25, 2026
Russian officials said Wednesday morning that a fire broke out in Ust-Luga following a Ukrainian drone attack. In recent days, the nearby Primorsk has also been targeted.
According to Ukraine's security service, the attack on Ust-Luga damaged oil loading equipment as well as storage tanks for crude oil and petroleum products.
Ukraine's General Staff said a Russian icebreaker located at the Vyborg Shipyard was also hit.
According to Reuters, Ust-Luga and Primorsk, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, were also forced to halt oil exports following drone attacks on Sunday, although loading operations were attempted again on Monday.
Primorsk, with an export capacity of over 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, is the main route for exporting Russia's Urals crude and high-quality diesel fuel. According to sources, Ust-Luga exported 32.9 million tonnes of petroleum products last year and Primorsk 16.8 million tonnes.
A source who requested anonymity told Reuters on Wednesday that the Ust-Luga terminal is closed and storage tanks are on fire.
According to the vessel tracking portal MarineTraffic, more than 20 Russian shadow fleet tankers are anchored in the Gulf of Finland, having been en route to either Primorsk or Ust-Luga.
Finland's meteorological service said smoke from the Primorsk fire could reach eastern Finland on Wednesday, as winds that had been blowing from the west on Tuesday turned southerly.
Duty meteorologist Nina Karusto said the exact path of the smoke plume is difficult to predict, as it is not known how high into the atmosphere the smoke will rise.
As of Wednesday morning, Finnish forecasters were unable to say what the situation was at the Primorsk fire site. As recently as Tuesday, the blaze was clearly visible in satellite images due to clear skies.
A drone hit a chimney of the Auvere Power Plant in Estonia in the early morning of Wednesday, believed to be tied to the attacks on the Russian ports, with Ust-Luga only about 50 kilometers away from the Auvere station.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Marcus Turovski
