Russia's Oil Port In Baltic Suffers 'Serious Damage' In Second Ukrainian Strikes

Last Updated:March 29, 2026, 21:58 IST

Ukraine hits Ust Luga oil terminal again as SBU drones cause serious damage while Marco Rubio disputes Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Donbas and US aid amid Iran war.

Ukraine on Sunday said that it has hit the oil and gas terminal in Russia’s Ust-Luga port for the second time in the space of a week.

Kyiv Independent quoted the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) saying long-range drones launched as part of an operation led by the SBU’s Alpha special forces unit caused “serious damage" as well as a fire.

Ust-Luga is one of Russia’s largest ports on the Baltic Sea and a major hub for the export of crude oil and petroleum products.

Following the attack, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko confirmed “damage" at the Ust-Luga port. He, however, did not elaborate on the extent of the damage at the port though mentioning that rescuers were working to extinguish the fire as of around 7 am (local time), Kyiv Independent reported.

The latest attack comes as Ukraine continued to use long-range drones to target Russian oil terminals in the port cities of Ust-Luga and Primorsk.

Recently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of lying over Washington’s demands for Kyiv to cede the eastern Donbas region to Russia for post-war security guarantees, and hinted at diverting weapons earmarked for Ukraine to support the war in Iran.

In an interview, Zelenskyy claimed that the United States was pressing Ukraine to cede the eastern Donbas region to Russia before finalising any post-war security guarantees. “The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump, and I think on his next steps. President Trump, unfortunately, in my opinion, still chooses a strategy of putting more pressure on the Ukrainian side," he told Reuters.

“I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees," he said. Three rounds of high-level talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine had earlier failed to yield any breakthrough to end the four-year war.

Speaking to reporters after the G7 meeting in France, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed Zelenskyy’s remarks and said, “That’s a lie. I saw him say that and it’s unfortunate he would say that, because he knows that’s not true."

“What he was told is the obvious: security guarantees are not going to kick in until there’s an end to a war, because otherwise you’re getting yourself involved in the war. That was not attached to, unless he gives up territory. I don’t know why he says these things. It’s not true," he added.

Rubio further said the US was open to shifting assistance to Ukraine to support the US-Israeli war against Iran. “Nothing yet has been diverted, but it could. If we need something for America and it’s American, we’re going to keep it for America first," Rubio said.

His remarks came as a sizable number of US Patriot air defence missiles were moved from Europe toward West Asia as Washington is diverting resources toward its war on Iran, raising concerns over European defences against Russia, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Two Patriot missile systems were sent from Germany to Turkey after several ballistic missiles were fired toward Turkey from Iran since the start of the war, as per the report. Zelenskyy had earlier warned that Kyiv will “definitely" face shortages of Patriot systems because of the war against Iran.

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