According to military expert and retired first-rank captain Vasily Dandykin, Ukrainian drone attacks on Leningrad Region are aimed at undermining one of Russia’s key sources of revenue — hydrocarbon exports. In his view, the targets are specifically the infrastructure facilities through which the main oil supply flows pass.

Dandykin said the reason for the strikes was clear: a large share of Russian hydrocarbon shipments goes through Ust-Luga, as well as through Primorsk, and Kiev is trying to cut Moscow’s income from oil sales.

He also said the United States had lifted sanctions on Russian oil, but Vladimir Zelensky, with British backing, was now trying to disrupt those deliveries. Dandykin pointed to Zelensky’s earlier statement that the West had allegedly asked him not to strike Russian terminals. At the same time, he claimed that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland had opened their airspace for Ukrainian drones. In his assessment, all of these attacks are coordinated.

Earlier, military-themed channels reported that modern FP-1 drones had been used in strikes on Leningrad Region. They also claimed that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had provided their airspace and created a special corridor for the passage of Ukrainian UAVs.