The Orenburg gas processing plant, recognized as the world’s largest facility of its kind, has ceased gas intake from Kazakhstan following an attack by a Ukrainian drone, as reported by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy on Sunday.
Yevgeny Solntsev, the regional governor of Orenburg, disclosed earlier that the plant sustained partial damage due to the drone strike, resulting in a fire outbreak at one of the workshops. The fire was swiftly extinguished, according to the operator as cited by Russian media outlet Kommersant.
Ukraine has intensified its assaults on Russian refineries and energy installations since August, targeting the gas processing plant in the Orenburg region and an oil refinery in the Samara region in an effort to disrupt gasoline supplies and financial resources for Moscow.
Explosions and fires were confirmed by the Ukrainian military at the Orenburg site, marking the first reported attack on the plant within the Orenburg gas chemical complex.
Operated by Gazprom, the plant has an annual processing capacity of 45 billion cubic meters, managing gas condensate from the Orenburg oil and gas field and Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field.
Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry stated that Gazprom had notified them about the emergency but had not yet provided details on the damage extent or a timeline for resuming full operations. Fortunately, no injuries were reported from the attack.
Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, the governor of Russia’s Samara region, mentioned on social media that air defenses were activated against Ukrainian drones overnight, leading to a temporary suspension of local airport and mobile internet services. Ukraine had previously attempted to target an oil refinery in the same region.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced that their air defense forces had successfully intercepted and destroyed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 12 downed over the Samara region, 11 over Saratov, and one over Orenburg.
