A blow to the wallet: how much drone attacks on Russian ports are reducing the Kremlin’s oil revenues
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Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian ports in the Baltic region have affected Russia’s oil exports and revenues, and the Kremlin acknowledges its limited ability to protect key energy facilities.
This is reported by the Financial Times .
The attacks on Russian infrastructure come as global oil prices have risen above $100 a barrel. However, the strikes on export facilities limit Russia’s ability to take advantage of the favorable market situation.
It is noted that the strikes on the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga in the past week alone have resulted in the loss of about $970 million in revenue for Russian energy exporters. At the same time, these terminals provide more than 40 percent of Russia’s seaborne export capacity.
According to a Western security official, the attacks destroyed about $200 million worth of oil in Primorsk.
It is expected that terminal operations may partially resume within a few days, but full restoration of infrastructure, including tanks and processing lines, may take months.
Local authorities also note that “there are no predictions of a decrease in the intensity” of drone attacks.
The Ukrainian military explains that such strikes are aimed at creating pressure due to the accumulation of oil and a shortage of capacity.
“The attacks are aimed at creating pressure through oil accumulation and capacity shortages to force the enemy to stop production,” the Ukrainian military said.
According to analysts, the global consequences of the attacks are already being felt in the petrochemical market. In particular, oil prices in Asia have doubled since the start of the war.
Exports through Ust-Luga, which provides about 8 percent of global supplies, fell by about 70 percent in late March after the attacks.
The article also notes that Russia has created a multi-layered system of protection for energy facilities, which includes electronic jamming, physical barriers, and the involvement of reservists. However, these measures are proving insufficient against new types of Ukrainian drones.
“If Ukraine is able to regularly launch cruise and ballistic missiles, the Russian side will suffer even greater defeats,” a source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense noted.
Russian companies are forced to finance the protection of their facilities themselves, which places an additional burden on business. One business representative expressed doubts about the effectiveness of such measures.
“What good are reservists with slingshots?” he said.
As is known, on the evening of April 5, drones attacked the Russian city of Novorossiysk in the Krasnodar Territory. The strike caused a fire at the Sheskharis oil terminal.
By the way, on the night of April 5 , the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck a number of facilities of the Russian aggressor, including an oil refinery, a port , and an aircraft warehouse. As a result of the attacks, fires were recorded at some facilities, and the extent of the damage is being determined.
It was previously reported that on Sunday, April 5, a section of an oil pipeline near the port in Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, was damaged by a drone attack .
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