Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s NORSI oil refinery in the central Nizhny Novgorod region overnight, Ukrainian drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said yesterday.

He said other drones had also hit the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk used by Russia’s oil transport company Transneft to ship oil abroad, reports Reuters. Russia acknowledged an oil spill but insisting there was no damage.

Ukraine confirmed it staged the latest strike on the port, near the border with Finland, that plays an important role in Russia’s oil exports.

Russian air defences shot down 19 drones in the Leningrad region and debris from one “damaged a section of the oil pipeline near the port of Primorsk, and the pipeline is being safely burned out,” regional governor Alexander Drozdenko initially said on Telegram.

But two hours later, he wrote: “According to updated information, the oil pipeline in the area of the port of Primorsk was not damaged.”

“The fuel leak occurred due to a shrapnel hit on one of the fuel tanks. The consequences have already been dealt with,” he added. No casualties were reported.

Ukraine’s drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said that the country’s “unmanned systems forces once again struck the Transneft Primorsk port and paid a gracious visit to Lukoil in Kstovo,” referring to a refinery of Russia’s second-biggest oil firm in another region.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks in a bid to reduce Moscow’s earnings from oil exports, as the Middle East war pushes up prices.