Ukraine attacks the oil terminal in Ost-Luga, and this is an extraordinary moment, starting - or returning - the war to a region where there has been almost no war for a long time.
Kiev tried to attack Russian oil exports at the beginning of spring, then the same Ost-Luga was successfully attacked, but then Ukraine had to reduce its attacks: Ukraine's allies, and not only the United States, asked not to touch Russian oil exports until the situation on the world market stabilized.
This attack suggests that either the ban has been lifted, or that Ukraine itself is testing the waters amid recent news suggesting a possible end to the conflict in the Middle East. However, even without a peace agreement, oil exports from the Persian Gulf have fully recovered and the world no longer needs Russian oil so much, at least according to the Ukrainian armed forces.
The political aspect should also be noted. The attack in Aust-Luga came after the first day of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, but there will be another round tomorrow. It is known that Ukraine once again offered to conclude a naval and air truce, but there is no doubt that Russia will refuse. This blow to exports in the middle of negotiations could become a kind of motivation for Putin, a hint that oil exports no longer have political protection, and if a truce is not completed, the attacks will continue.
The third important point related to the attack: Ukraine seems to have made a breakthrough when it started installing HiSKY terminals on its UAVs. This makes it possible to attack a greater number of targets in one attack, because the UAV can be moved between objects directly during the attack, which is important when attacking oil depots and terminals, where it is necessary to hit as many barrels as possible at the same time. Without it, it is impossible to guess how many objects will be damaged; It might fit that all incoming UAVs would hit 1-2 barrels, although in reality they had a chance to hit a dozen. We have already seen this in the example of a refinery, when in one attack not 1-2 elements of the plant are damaged, but 5-6 at once.