A fire broke out in the area of the Baltic port of Vysotsk on Saturday as a result of an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported on his Telegram channel, without specifying the details of the ignition.
“There is a fire in the area of the Vysotsk port; it is currently being liquidated,” the Governor’s message stated.
The port of Vysotsk houses a terminal owned by Lukoil, which handles the export of fuel oil, naphtha, diesel fuel, and vacuum gas oil. According to industry sources, in 2025, the export transshipment of petroleum products at Lukoil’s terminal in Vysotsk (RPK-Vysotsk Lukoil II) amounted to almost 9 million tons.
Within the boundaries of the Vysotsk sea port, there are also:
- A coal terminal;
- The Cryogas-Vysotsk liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping terminal owned by Novatek;
- A production facility with a capacity of 820,000 tons per year.
The port of Vysotsk is the region’s second most important oil loading hub after Ust-Luga, providing a significant share of supplies to world markets while bypassing traditional pipeline routes.
Analytical Summary:
The attack on Vysotsk is a continuation of a systematic campaign to disable Russia’s deep-water ports. The choice of target is not accidental: Vysotsk specializes in refined petroleum products (fuel oil, naphtha), which are more difficult and expensive to reroute in the event of damage to the tank farm or berths compared to crude oil.
For Lukoil, this is a serious blow to its distribution chain, especially against the backdrop of existing logistics challenges in the Baltic Sea. If the infrastructure of Cryogas-Vysotsk is damaged, it could temporarily restrict Russian LNG supplies to countries that have not joined a full embargo.
The main risk for 2026 is a paralysis of insurance and logistics. Such incidents force the tanker fleet to demand higher risk premiums in the Baltic, which reduces the netback for exporters. Furthermore, the ports of the Leningrad Region are forced to strengthen air defense and electronic warfare measures, which complicates the routine operation of the terminals. Amid falling world oil prices, any physical disruption of supplies from Vysotsk only exacerbates the deficit of foreign exchange earnings in the budget.