News Feed

The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

Show More
News Feed

Russian governor: Russian natural gas seaport terminal catches fire

1 min read
Russian governor: Russian natural gas seaport terminal catches fire
A photo of the fire at the Russian Novatek natural gas company in Russia's Leningrad region on Jan. 21, 2024. (Russian Governor Alexander Drozdenko)

The terminal of the Russian Novatek natural gas company caught on fire in the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko announced on Telegram. Novatek is the largest independent natural gas producer in Russia.

The governor stated that no casualties have been reported but other Russian media sources suggested that 150 people were evacuated. A high-alert regime was introduced in the Kingiseppsky district. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Novatek is Russia's largest producer of liquified natural gas. The U.S. introduced sanctions against one of Novatek's major production entities, the Arctic LNG-2 (liquified natural gas) project, for which it has a 60% share.

Reuters reported last month that Novatek itself issued force majeure declarations to multiple clients after the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian LNG in November 2023.

Businesses may declare force majeure if they cannot supply promised goods or services due to circumstances beyond their control.

Earlier this month, a huge fire broke out at a warehouse in St. Petersburg belonging to one of Russia's biggest online stores, Wildberries, affecting at least 70,000 square meters of the property.

Reuters: Russia has become China’s largest oil supplier
According to the report, Russia shipped 107.02 million metric tons of crude oil to China last year, which is the equivalent of 2.14 million barrels per day.