The largest gas processing plant globally, the Orenburg facility, had to halt gas intake from Kazakhstan due to a drone attack by Ukraine, as per Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy. Orenburg’s regional governor, Yevgeny Solntsev, mentioned that the plant suffered partial damage, causing a fire at a workshop, although it was subsequently extinguished, as reported by Russian media outlet Kommersant.
Ukraine has intensified its assaults on Russian refineries and energy sites since August to disrupt gasoline supplies and cut off funding to Moscow. Ukrainian military confirmed explosions and fire at the Orenburg site, marking the first strike on the plant within the Orenburg gas chemical complex.
Operated by Gazprom, the facility has an annual processing capacity of 45 billion cubic meters, handling gas condensate from the Orenburg and Karachaganak fields in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry revealed that Gazprom informed them of the emergency but has not provided details on the damage extent or resumption timeline for full operations. Fortunately, no injuries were reported from the attack.
In a separate incident, Samara region’s governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, disclosed on social media about air defense actions against Ukrainian drones overnight. Russian Defence Ministry stated that 45 Ukrainian drones were shot down, with 12 over Samara, 11 over Saratov, and one over Orenburg regions. Ukraine had previously attempted to target an oil refinery in the Samara region.