Major Russian gas plant forced to suspend gas intake following Ukrainian drone attack
Russia's Orenburg gas processing plant was forced to halt gas intake from Kazakhstan on Oct. 19 following a Ukrainian drone attack on the facility, Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry announced.
The plant, which is located in the southwestern Orenburg Oblast and is the largest of its kind in the world, was targeted in a drone strike, Ukraine's military said earlier in the day.
Regional Governor Yevgeny Solntsev reported that a fire had broken out within a workshop of the plant, causing damage to the Gazprom-owned facility. The plant has the capacity to process upwards of 45 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The Kyiv Independent cannot verify claims made by Russian officials.
No timeline was provided for a resumption of the plant's operations immediately following the attack.
The news comes as Kyiv continues to escalate its campaign against Russian oil and gas infrastructure, a key source of Moscow's revenues helping to fuel its all-out invasion of Ukraine.
While Ukraine's military has previously target energy facilities in Orenburg Oblast — including earlier this month when it attacked the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the region — the strikes on the gas plant appear to mark the first time that the facility was targeted.
As Ukraine intensifies attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, the Russian economy has continued to suffer. Earlier this month, Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service was asked to impose maximum prices at gas stations as fuel shortages worsen across the country.
Russian oil product exports dropped by 17.1% in September compared to August, totaling 7.58 million tons, due to ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks, according to Reuters.
Russia regularly targets Ukrainian gas infrastructure and has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian cities ahead of the anticipated harsh winter.
