Public Slap: Ukraine Attacks Assets Of Putin's Close Friends Twice In A Week

Details.

On the night of 21 January, the Leningrad region was hit by the second drone attack since the start of the war. The first had taken place just a few days earlier - on Thursday. Both times the strike targeted the facilities of Putin's old friends and acquaintances, writes dialog.ua with reference to Agency.

The head of the Kingisep district, Yuri Zapalatsky, said that the fire broke out at the Novatek terminal in Ust-Luga at 3am. Eyewitnesses said they heard two explosions before the fire broke out.

Fontanka wrote that air defence units had been flying two drones over the area for several hours, while the drones had been known about since eight o'clock in the evening. They were spotted by an employee of the Emergency Situations Ministry. After almost reaching St Petersburg, they changed direction towards Ust-Luga. Telegram published a video of the drone's flight.

Novatek's main shareholders are Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko, whom Putin described as his friend.

Several ships flying the flags of Panama, Malta, Liberia, Gabon, Greece, Hong Kong, the Marshall Islands and the Cayman Islands were near the terminal at the time of the attack. The Ust-Luga complex is one of Novatek's two gas condensate processing complexes. In 2022, it processed 6.9 million tonnes of condensate for export.

Novatek's press service acknowledged the cause of the fire as an "external impact" and said the terminal's operations had been suspended. Ukrainian publications, including RBC-Ukraine, quoted sources as saying that the attack on the Ust-Luga terminal was organised by the Security Service of Ukraine.

The Ust-Luga oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. It processes fuel, which is also supplied to Russian troops," the source said.

Putin was also well acquainted with the former co-owner of another facility attacked this week, the St Petersburg Oil Terminal (POT). It was hit by Ukrainian drones on 18 January. Afterwards, the current co-owner of POT, Mikhail Skigin, thanked the Russian defence ministry and Vladimir Putin for the 'lightning-fast' work of the air defence forces. Skigin is the son of entrepreneur Dmitry Skigin, a key figure in St Petersburg's oil business. Putin was also acquainted with him (for more on Skigin senior, see a series of features on the businessman that appeared on Dozhd TV).

Ukrainian drones have previously attacked objects associated with Putin's entourage. In August 2023, a drone hit the Moscow Towers skyscraper under construction, which is linked to Putin's secret financial empire.

On Sunday night, drones also exploded in the Tula, Orel, Bryansk and Smolensk regions. In Tula, drones attacked the Shcheglovsky Val factory, which produces Pantsir-S missile defence systems.

Earlier this week, drones attacked an oil depot in the Bryansk region.