Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy announced on Sunday that the Orenburg gas processing plant, the world’s largest facility of its kind, had to halt its gas intake from Kazakhstan due to a drone attack from Ukraine.
The regional governor of Orenburg, Yevgeny Solntsev, stated that the plant suffered partial damage and a workshop at the facility caught fire following the drone strike. The fire was extinguished later, as reported by Russian media outlet Kommersant, citing the operator.
Since August, Ukraine has escalated its attacks on Russian refineries and energy facilities to disrupt gasoline supplies and cut off funding to Moscow. The Ukrainian military confirmed the strikes on the Orenburg gas processing plant and an oil refinery in the Samara region of southwestern Russia, resulting in explosions and fire at the Orenburg site.
This incident marked the first reported attack on the plant, which is part of the Orenburg gas chemical complex. Operated by Gazprom, the facility has an annual processing capacity of 45 billion cubic metres and deals with gas condensate from the Orenburg oil and gas field as well as Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field.
Gazprom informed Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry about the emergency but has not disclosed the extent of the damage or a timeline for resuming full operations. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the attack.
Additionally, the governor of Russia’s Samara region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, reported on social media that air defenses were activated against Ukrainian drones overnight, leading to the temporary suspension of the local airport and mobile internet services. The Russian Defence Ministry stated that 45 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, with 12 over the Samara region, 11 over the Saratov region, and one over the Orenburg region.
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