Ukrainian drones have carried out an attack on the Orenburg gas processing plant, causing damage to a section of the facility, according to the governor of the region. Fortunately, no employees were injured during the incident. Governor Yevgeny Solntsev reported on his official Telegram channel that the drone strike resulted in a fire breaking out at a workshop within the plant, with emergency services actively working to extinguish it.
This marks the first reported instance of an attack on the plant, which forms part of the Orenburg gas chemical complex, housing Gazprom’s production and processing units in the Orenburg region with an annual gas processing capacity of 45 billion cubic meters. The plant is responsible for processing gas condensate sourced from the Orenburg oil and gas condensate field, as well as the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, the governor of Russia’s Samara region, disclosed on social media that Ukrainian drones prompted air defense measures overnight, leading to the temporary suspension of operations at the local airport and mobile internet services. Previous attempts by Ukraine to target an oil refinery in the Samara region were also noted.
Russia’s Defence Ministry released a statement confirming that their air defense forces intercepted and downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 12 drones taken down over the Samara region, 11 over the Saratov region, and one over the Orenburg region.
While there has been no immediate response from Ukraine, the country has escalated its assaults on Russian refineries and energy facilities since August in a bid to disrupt petrol supplies and cut off Moscow’s financial resources.