The Orenburg gas processing plant, which holds the title of being the largest plant of its kind globally, has ceased gas intake from Kazakhstan due to an attack by a Ukrainian drone, as announced by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy. Yevgeny Solntsev, the regional governor of Orenburg, mentioned that the plant suffered partial damage and a fire erupted at a workshop following the drone strike. The fire was subsequently extinguished, according to reports from Russian media outlet Kommersant.
Ukraine has intensified its operations against Russian refineries and energy facilities, with recent strikes targeting the gas processing plant in the Orenburg region and an oil refinery in the Samara region in southwestern Russia. These actions are aimed at disrupting gasoline supplies and cutting off funding to Moscow.
The Ukrainian military confirmed the occurrence of explosions and a fire at the Orenburg site, marking the first known attack on this facility, which is part of the Orenburg gas chemical complex. Operated by Gazprom, the plant has an annual processing capacity of 45 billion cubic meters and processes gas condensate from the Orenburg oil and gas field as well as Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field.
Gazprom notified Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry of the emergency situation but has not yet provided specific information regarding the extent of the damage or a timeline for full operations to resume. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the attack.
In a related development, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, the governor of Russia’s Samara region, reported on social media that air defenses were activated against Ukrainian drones overnight, leading to the temporary suspension of mobile internet services and operations at the local airport. Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that its air defense forces had intercepted 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, with the majority being shot down over the Samara and Saratov regions, as well as the Orenburg region. Ukraine had previously attempted to target an oil refinery in the Samara region.