Drones attacked ports in occupied Crimea

The nighttime attack targeted several strategic Russian logistics and energy sites at once—from occupied Crimea to the Baltic coast. Following the explosions, fires, widespread power outages, and damage to infrastructure supporting military and fuel transportation were reported.

Thiswas reported byOSINT researchers at Exilenova+.

In occupied Crimea, fires broke out following a series of explosions; satellites detected them in the Kerch seaport area, specifically at the fuel terminal of the “TES” gas station chain. Fires were also detected at the 330 kV “Simferopol” substation, near a mobile gas turbine power plant, and at the “Gvardeyskoye” military airbase.

The attack disrupted the peninsula’s power grid. Yalta, nearly all of Simferopol, and a significant portion of Sevastopol were left without power. Power outages were also reported in Kerch, Feodosia, Bakhchisaray, and Dzhankoy. The so-called governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced the implementation of a special operating regime for energy facilities.

That same night, infrastructure facilities in the areas of the ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk in the Leningrad Oblast came under attack. The region’s governor, Alexander Drozdenco, reported that air defense forces had allegedly shot down 31 drones and confirmed damage to infrastructure near the ports and the Luzhsky training ground.

According to him, there were no casualties. Ust-Luga is one of Russia’s largest seaports on the Baltic Sea and a key hub for the export of oil and petroleum products, particularly through the use of the so-called “shadow fleet.” The port of Vysotsk specializes in the transshipment of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas.

The Kerch seaport and ferry terminal play an important role in supplying the occupied Crimea with fuel and cargo, serving as a backup logistics route alongside the Crimean Bridge. According to Exilenova+, this is not the first attack on Kerch’s port infrastructure. In late June, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already carried out strikes on the Kerch port, the “TES-Terminal-1” facility, and the “Kavkaz” port to disrupt Russian military logistics on the occupied peninsula.

On July 5, the power supply in occupied Crimea deteriorated significantly—successful strikes on substations left part of the peninsula without street lighting at night. The strikes targeted several key power substations at once. These included the “Tarkhankut,” “Vipasne,” “Bilohirsk,” “Saki,” “Tavria,” “Mykolaivka,” “Staryi Krym,” and “Zakhidno-Krymska” facilities.

Анна Бальчінос