In brief
At dawn, a swarm of drones descended on St. Petersburg’s Port of Kerch, striking the city’s largest oil terminal and a nearby naval base in Kronstadt. President Zelensky announced the hit on social media, calling it a blow to Russia’s war economy. The attack, part of a broader campaign that has already caused fuel shortages in the north‑west, underscored Ukraine’s focus on crippling Russia’s energy infrastructure.
At dawn on 4 July, a coordinated swarm of drones attacked the Port of Kerch, Russia’s most‑capable oil‑processing facility on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The target, capable of producing 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum per year, was hit at a time when the Kremlin’s fuel supplies were already strained by Ukrainian strikes across the north‑west.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a brief post on Telegram, described the strike as striking “port oil infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia’s war.” The president added that a “key military target” in the neighboring naval base of Kronstadt was also hit overnight.
St. Petersburg’s governor, Aleksandr Beglov, confirmed the terminal was hit and reported a massive drone attack across the city. He warned residents to stay indoors and cautioned that mobile internet services could be disrupted during the ongoing threat. According to Beglov, 72 Ukrainian drones were downed over the Leningrad region that night.
The attack forms part of a wider Ukrainian counter‑attack strategy aimed at the Russian energy infrastructure. In recent months, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted pipelines, storage facilities and refineries, highlighting the importance of energy supplies to the Russian war effort.
While Russia has not released an official statement on the incident, the BBC confirmed that the oil terminal was struck, and Ukrainian sources claim it remains a critical hub for the Russian navy and law‑enforcement agencies in the Baltic region.
The strike weighs heavily on a war that has already drawn a significant portion of Russia’s territory out of Ukrainian hands, but emphasizes Ukraine’s renewed focus on crippling the enemy’s economic and logistical lifelines.
