Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Ust-Luga Baltic port for sixth time since March
Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Ust-Luga port overnight, sparking a fire - the sixth such attack since March, per Kyiv Post. Russia's Defense Ministry said 553 drones were intercepted nationwide. NATO jets separately shot down a drone that strayed into Latvian airspace, per Meduza.
Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Ust-Luga port overnight, sparking a fire at the country's largest Baltic Sea export terminal. It was the sixth such attack on the facility since March, according to Kyiv Post and Euromaidan Press. Kyiv Post reported that 54 drones were involved in the strike. Russia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted 553 Ukrainian drones nationwide and over annexed Crimea overnight, though it did not specify how many were aimed at Ust-Luga specifically. Separately, a drone strayed into Latvian airspace during the attack and was shot down by NATO fighter jets, according to Meduza. Ust-Luga handled nearly half of the Baltic basin's total cargo turnover as of January 2026, making it a central node in Russia's wartime export economy. The repeated strikes on the port, six in five months, point to a sustained Ukrainian campaign to disrupt Russian energy and cargo exports through the Baltic rather than a one-off incident. That a stray drone reached NATO airspace over Latvia also illustrates how the war's edges continue to brush against alliance territory, even without direct escalation.