Oil terminals at Russia’s Ust-Luga port on the Baltic Sea
Thursday’s Coverage: Russia Kills 9, Injures 13 in Sumy
Map: Institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1651 GMT:
Finland is sending Ukraine another €198 million ($206 million) in military aid.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb approved the 27th package during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Helsinki hsa now sent €2.5 billion (about $2.6 billion) in military aid.
“We are providing exactly the support needed to help Ukraine defend itself in critical frontline situations. This support must not decrease; it must be strengthened now,” said Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen.
UPDATE 1525 GMT:
Norwegian police have detained the vessel Silver Dania, suspected of damaging a telecoms cable between Latvia and Sweden last weekend, at the request of the Latvian authorities.
Apprehended on Thursday evening, the Silver Dania arrived in Tromsø on Friday morning. Its entire crew consists of Russian citizens.
Damage to the fiber-optic cable in the Baltic Sea was reported on Sunday. The next day, the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office announced the detention of a vessel which may be involved, but its name and ownership have not been disclosed.
Russia is suspected of responsibility for a series of attacks on undersea cables, through the dragging of ships’ anchors across them, between the Baltic States, Sweden, Finland, and Germany.
UPDATE 1504 GMT:
Goldman Sachs, one of the top 10 US financial institutions by assets, has left Russia.
Its Russian subsidiary, Goldman Sachs Bank, has reached an agreement to sell to the Balchug Capital fund with permission from the Kremlin.
Goldman Sachs Bank, which began operating in Russia in 2008, was involved in stock market investments. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the bank announced plans to wind down its operations in Russia, and over three years.
Corporate accounts in the bank were practically zeroed out, and net assets decreased by almost 80%. However, last year Goldman Sachs Bank received 551 million rubles ($5.59 billion) in profit and retained 5.1 billion rubles ($51.74 million) in assets and 3.5 billion rubles ($35.51 million)in capital.
ING, the largest bank in the Netherlands, is also leaving Russia. On Tuesday, it announced an agreement to sell its Russian business to an unnamed “financial investor from Moscow”.
The last American bank working with individuals in Russia, Citigroup, began to wind down its business at the end of last year.
UPDAT£ 1441 GMT:
Ukrainian drones struck the Volgograd oil refinery, 568 miles inside Russia from the border, early Friday.
Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov said drone debris caused a fire at the facility, which “promptly extinguished”. One plant worker was hospitalized.
The refinery is Russia’s sixth-largest, producing around 14 million tons of gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, and aviation fuel annually.
UPDATE 0940 GMT:
North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have been pulled off the frontlines after suffering heavy casualties, say Ukrainian and US officials.
The North Korean troops have not been seen at the front for about two weeks.
Around 11,000 to 12,000 North Koreans have been sent to Russia. Most are in the Kursk region in western Russia, part of which has been held by Ukraine since a cross-border incursion last August.
South Korean and Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, say up to 4,000 North Koreans have been killed or wounded.
UPDATE 0928 GMT:
Around two dozen Chinese companies are supplying Russia with key elements for drones and missiles such as gallium, germanium, and antimony, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
China became the only foreign supplier of gallium and germanium to Russia in 2023 and remains the largest supplier of antimony, according to Russian customs data.
The companies have escaped the sanctions imposed by the US and European Union on hundreds of Chinese companies and individuals providing technology for Russia’s military.
Among the recipients of the critical Chinese minerals is Russian State-owned conglomerate Rostec, which provides almost 80% of the weapons deployed by Russia in Ukraine.
At least a third of the Chinese suppliers are partially owned by the government in Beijing.
UPDATE 0917 GMT:
Sweden has pledged another $1.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, its largest commitment of Russia’s 35-month invasion.
Defense Minister Pal Jonson said Stockholm’s 18th package was a sign that Sweden was ready to support Ukraine in the “long term”.
“This is also a signal to our other allies that we need to prepare for Europe to take more responsibility for supporting Ukraine,” Jonson told a press conference.
I am thankful to @SwedishPM Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish Government, and the people of Sweden for the 18th and largest Swedish defense package to Ukraine to date, totaling 13.5 billion SEK ($1.23 billion).
We deeply appreciate that this military aid meets the urgent needs of the…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 30, 2025
UPDATE 0838 GMT:
At least one civilian has been killed and at least 35 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
The fatalities was in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, where 18 people were wounded.
Eleven of the injured, including two children aged 7 and 8, were in Kramatorsk. Five, including a British volunteer, were hurt by a drone attack on Pokrovsk.
Casualties were reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Sumy regions.
Air defenses downed 59 of 102 drones fired by Russia on 12 regions overnight. Another 37 decoy drones were lost to electronic counter-measures.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s drone strikes have shut down a Russian port on the Baltic Sea.
Oil flows via the Ust-Luga port have been paused after overnight strikes on Wednesday, according to shipping data and a “source with knowledge of the oil deliveries”.
The strikes knocked out the Andreapol oil pumping station in the Tver region, 100 miles northwest of Moscow.
“The Russians even had to shut down the main pipeline that supplies oil to the Ust-Luga terminal in the Leningrad region,” the source confirmed.
The last vessel left the port early Wednesday.
The Andreapol pumping station is part of the Baltic Pipeline System-2, operated by Russian State-owned oil pipeline company Transneft.
The Ust-Luga port processed around 650,000 barrels crude per day in 2024, approximately 20% of Russia’s total seaborne crude supply.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks in recent months on facilities supporting Russia’s 35-month invasion, including oil refineries providing fuel to to the military.
Two major refineries have reportedly been knocked out of service in the past week.
See also Ukraine War, Day 1,066: Kyiv Hits Another Oil Refinery in Russia