An overnight Ukrainian drone attack hit Russia’s Andreapol oil pumping station, part of the oil export route via the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, causing a fire and oil products to leak, said a source in the Security Service of Ukraine on Wednesday.
The European Commission proposed banning imports of Russian primary aluminium imports and restricting sales of video game consoles to Russia in a 16th package of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, a document seen by Reuters showed.
The volume of gas in Ukraine’s storage facilities had fallen to near the critical 10% mark and the country urgently needed to start importing significant amounts to meet its needs, said the former head of the transit operator Serhiy Makogon on Facebook.
Ukraine drones hit Russian oil pumping station, missile storage site
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack hit Russia’s Andreapol oil pumping station, part of the oil export route via the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, causing a fire and oil products to leak, said a source in the Security Service of Ukraine on Wednesday.
The attack also hit a Russian missile storage facility in Russia’s Tver region, causing a string of explosions, the source told Reuters.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
The source said the filtration pump site and tanks with additives were damaged in the attack and that supplies via the main pipeline to the Ust-Luga terminal had temporarily been suspended.
A source in Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said there had been no disruptions and described the damage in the Tver region as limited.
Ukrainian forces have stepped up drone strikes on Russian military and energy facilities in recent weeks to raise the cost of the war for Moscow as the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches next month.
Also on Wednesday, Ukraine said it had struck a big Russian oil refinery in an overnight drone attack, and a Russian official said an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on a nuclear power plant had been thwarted.
The Ukrainian military said the strike on the refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region had caused a large fire. Reuters was able to verify a video posted on social media that showed orange flames lighting up the night sky in the city of Kstovo, but could not confirm it was the refinery that was burning.
Lukoil’s Norsi refinery, Russia’s fourth largest, is based in Kstovo, which lies east of Moscow and about 800km from the Ukrainian border.
Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur said it had temporarily suspended operations at its plant, also in Kstovo, on Wednesday morning after debris from a Ukrainian drone sparked a fire. It said the blaze was later contained, and there were no casualties.
The governor of Russia’s western Smolensk region said on Wednesday that air defence systems had destroyed a drone attempting to strike a nuclear power plant there. The plant was working normally, the RIA state news agency reported, citing its press service.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The governor of Belgorod, another western region, said a mother and her two-year-old child had been killed when a drone struck a family home there. He said the child’s father and another child had been wounded and taken to hospital.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that 104 Ukrainian drones had been involved in raids across western Russia, 11 of which were destroyed over the Smolensk region.
In total, Russian air defences destroyed drones over nine regions, nearly half of them over Kursk, where Russian forces are fighting to drive out Ukrainian troops who fought their way across the border last August.
EU proposes bans on aluminium, video game consoles in new Russia sanctions
The European Commission proposed banning imports of Russian primary aluminium imports and restricting sales of video game consoles to Russia in a 16th package of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, a document seen by Reuters showed.
The proposal was circulated to member states on Tuesday with discussions due to start on Wednesday afternoon. The restrictions also include measures to crack down on circumvention of the Group of Seven nations’ price cap on Russian oil.
Imports of primary aluminium generate significant revenues for Russia, thereby enabling the continuation of its war, according to the document.
The ban would include aluminium alloys and have a one-year phase-in period, the proposal said, with “necessary” imports of 275,000 tonnes exempt for this period.
The 27-member bloc imported nearly 330,000 tonnes of Russian primary aluminium and alloys for the January to November period last year, according to Trade Data Monitor. The full 2024 figure has not been published yet. In 2023, the EU imported more than 500,000 tonnes from Russia.
Sales to Russia of video game consoles and other entertainment tools like flight simulators and joysticks will also be restricted as they could be used as controllers for drones.
This week, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Russia was “really being creative” in finding alternative equipment for its military.
“Even elements like the consoles for the video games, because apparently these are the ones that they operate the drones with,” said Kallas.
That would affect sales of consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Switch and Sony PlayStation.
The proposal also adds 50 new entities and individuals. The list was not shared by EU diplomats but they said it included some Russian regional banks.
About 75 ships, mainly energy tankers, could be included in addition to the 79 vessels listed already, said the diplomats.
Regarding oil, the commission wants to impose new restrictions on “software related to oil and gas exploration” and will introduce “a transaction ban” to include ports and locks and airports in Russia used to transfer drones and missiles or used to circumvent the G7 oil price cap.
Ukraine must start urgent gas imports, says ex-head of transit operator
The volume of gas in Ukraine’s storage facilities had fallen to near the critical 10% mark and the country urgently needed to start importing significant amounts to meet its needs, said the former head of the transit operator Serhiy Makogon on Facebook.
Daily gas production cannot cover all of Ukraine’s requirements in the cold season and the country pumps gas into storage during the summer months for use in winter.
“Our storage facilities are gradually but surely approaching the level of 10% fullness,” said Makogon, who led the Ukrainian state transit operator for more than three years before stepping down in 2022.
He added that this would reduce possible withdrawals to 60 million cubic meters (mcm) per day.
Ukraine has stopped reporting the volume of gas in storage facilities, which have been the target of regular Russian missile attacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
However, the state-owned Naftogaz oil and gas firm, the parent company of the firm that operates gas storages, said Naftogaz Group had sufficient gas reserves for a stable heating season.
Makogon noted that as gas in storage is pressurised, lower levels mean less can be extracted on a daily basis.
“This will mean that we will not be able to meet gas demand through production and underground gas facilities, and we will need to import gas on an emergency basis,” he said.
Storage facilities were approximately 20% full a year ago and 22-23% full at the same point in 2023, he said.
Ukraine anti-graft agency investigates defence minister
Ukrainian investigators have opened a criminal case involving Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, a move likely to deepen a standoff in his ministry over arms procurement that could strain Kyiv’s ties with important Western allies.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (Nabu) told Reuters in a statement that its investigation, requested by a corruption watchdog, would examine whether there had been an abuse of authority by Umerov but gave few other details.
The watchdog, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, has accused Umerov of acting illegally by sidelining the head of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), whose contract Umerov is refusing to renew after criticising the agency’s work.
Umerov said last week that the DPA, which coordinates weapons purchases, had failed to deliver results for Ukrainian forces, comments that brought ministry infighting over arms procurement out into the open.
“Despite the publicised scale of procurement, our defenders on the frontlines have not experienced its tangible impact,” he wrote on Facebook.
The dispute comes at a critical time in the war with Russia as President Donald Trump reviews US support for Ukraine’s military and as Kyiv tries to convince its Western partners that it is winning the battle against endemic corruption.
Weapons supplied by Ukraine’s Western allies including tanks, rockets, missile defences and ammunition are vital to Kyiv’s war effort.
In a statement on Monday, diplomats in Ukraine representing countries in the Group of Seven major democracies urged officials to resolve the dispute quickly.
Umerov’s appointment as defence minister in September 2023 followed months of corruption allegations against the ministry, and the DPA was charged with introducing more accountability in arms buying.
The agency has sought to cut out intermediaries in the defence sector and minimise the risk of corruption, and the appointment of its head, Maryna Bezrukova, was applauded by anti-graft lobbyists and Kyiv’s Western partners.
But Umerov has accused the agency of playing “political games” and leaking information, and a deputy defence minister in charge of procurement was sacked by the government on Tuesday at Umerov’s request.
Ukraine has long sought to keep details of arms procurement a closely guarded secret.
EU won’t ban Russian LNG until it secures alternatives, say diplomats
The European Commission did not propose a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG)n in its latest package of sanctions because member states raised concerns about first securing alternatives including from the US, said EU diplomats.
“First you have to have a deal because otherwise you will be left without gas from Russia and the US,” said one of the diplomats.
In June last year, the European Union banned transshipments of Russian LNG in a further package of restrictions on Russia imposed over its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow had been using northern European ports to do ship-to-ship transfers of LNG for onward journeys to Asia. Since the ban took effect, more Russian LNG has stayed in Europe, prompting some member states to push for tighter rules and an all-out ban.
However, the commission did not propose tougher measures after pushback from some member states. EU sources said the cold winter weather, gas stocks drawdown and the timing of the 23 February German election put a further dampener on the idea.
Slovakia’s Fico to discuss gas transit with European Commission
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has sought the resumption of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will discuss the issue with European Commission officials on Thursday, his office said on Tuesday.
The Kremlin said it favoured a resumption of transit through Ukraine, which has refused to renew an agreement to allow it on grounds it helps fund Russia’s war against Kyiv. Transit through Ukraine has been an established route for sending supplies to Slovakia, Austria and ex-Soviet Moldova.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided Fico for trying to secure new supplies from Moscow instead of from Western countries.
Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin last month to discuss gas flows to his country.
Slovakia has welcomed a European Commission statement on continuing talks with Ukraine on the possible renewal of gas transit, adding that it now saw the option of shipping gas from Azerbaijan as being back on the table.
Slovakia and Hungary have been pressing the EU to step in to restore the flow of gas to them through a major pipeline.
Hungary said on Monday it had received guarantees from the commission to protect its energy supply, something it described as a prerequisite for Budapest agreeing to renew EU sanctions on Russia. DM