Image Credit: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / Contributor / Getty Images 
Renewed Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in the Baltic have hampered Russia’s ability to capitalize on rising prices due to the US-Iran war.
A report in The Financial Times details how Ukraine’s attacks on vulnerable Russian infrastructure are preventing Moscow from benefitting fully from the chaos in the Middle East.
The Times explains, “The Kremlin has admitted that Russia has limited capacity to protect its crucial energy export facilities from the blowback of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, now dragging into its fifth year.
“Moscow’s windfall profits from the Iran war remain high as Brent crude trades above $100 a barrel, but attacks on Russia’s two main export locations in the Baltic Sea may cut into the Kremlin’s windfall.
“Five attacks on Primorsk and Ust-Luga since early last week have cost Russian energy exporters about $970mn in revenues in the week to March 29, according to Kyiv School of Economics head of energy and climate studies Borys Dodonov.
“Primorsk and Ust-Luga account for more than 40 per cent of Russia’s seaborne crude export capacity. At Primorsk alone, the attacks have burnt $200mn worth of oil, according to a western security official.”
A number of Ukraine’s allies are reported to have asked her to reduce the attacks and “alleviate pressure on energy markets, but President Zelensky has said Ukraine will only stop if Russia ends the war—meaning the attacks will continue indefinitely.
The attacks show that Ukraine’s long-range drone industry is significantly outpacing Russia’s, despite constant attacks on Kyiv’s drone-production facilities.
Ukraine’s drone strikes have prompted internet blackouts in Moscow and many other areas of Russia.
Russian companies have been forced to invest in electronic anti-drone countermeasures, including state-run Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil exporter.
