Drones target key Russian gas site in Orenburg
Illustrative photo: firefighters in Russia (Getty Images)
In the night of October 19, drones attacked a gas plant in Russia's Orenburg region, causing a fire in one of its workshops, according to the governor of the region, Yevgeny Solntsev, on social media.
"UAF drones attempted an attack on another industrial facility in the region. The gas plant’s infrastructure was partially affected," the Russian governor wrote.
According to the official, work is currently underway to eliminate the consequences of the incident, assess the scale of the damage, and evaluate the impact on the plant’s production process.
As of the morning of October 19, no personnel were reported injured, although the operational situation remains tense.
The Orenburg gas processing plant is one of the largest strategic facilities in Russia's gas infrastructure.
The plant specializes in the industrial preparation and processing of natural gas.
Its main products include:
- purified natural gas
- stable gas condensate
- sulfur
- liquefied hydrocarbon gases (propane, butane – LPG)
- ethane
In addition, the plant operates a helium production facility, which supplies a portion of Russia's demand for this strategic resource.
The plant has a design capacity of up to 45 billion cubic meters of gas per year, with primary supplies coming from the Orenburg oil and gas condensate field – one of the largest in Europe.
The facility is also integrated into the international KazRosGaz project (Russia + Kazakhstan), which processes gas from Kazakhstan's Karachaganak field.
It is worth noting that EU sanctions significantly affect the plant’s operations, particularly regarding the export of LPG (propane and butane), complicating deliveries to international markets. The drone attack on such a strategic facility underscores its critical importance to the region’s and country’s energy infrastructure.
For context, on the night of October 13, Ukrainian drones struck several facilities in temporarily occupied Crimea that support the war effort against Ukraine. These included an oil terminal in Feodosia and enemy substations.
Reports also noted the first strike on the Feodosia oil terminal, which the General Staff confirmed on October 6. At that time, a fire broke out that could not be extinguished for several days.
