Key gas plant processing nearly 60% of Russia’s gas engulfed in flames near Orenburg
Photo: Ukrainian drones struck two key Russian factories near Orenburg (Getty Images)
On the night of June 24, Ukrainian drones struck the Orenburg gas processing plant and Russia’s only helium plant, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Special Operations Forces.
The mission was carried out in coordination with the underground insurgent movement Chernaya Iskra operating within Russia.
The plants are located more than 1,200 km from the front line. A fire has been reported on the premises of the facilities. The extent of the damage is being assessed.
The Orenburg Gas Processing Plant (GPP) and the Orenburg Helium Plant (OHP) form a single complex.
The GPP produces purified natural gas and sulfur (which is used, among other things, for the production of explosives and black powder).
The OHP receives purified sulfur-free gas and, through deep cooling, extracts its most valuable components—helium (an inert gas used in liquid-fuel rocket engines and guidance systems) and ethane (which is a key raw material for the synthesis of specialty plastics, cable insulation for aviation, and key plasticizers for solid rocket propellants and gunpowder).
The Orenburg Gas Processing Plant is one of the world’s largest gas chemical complexes, commissioned in 1974 (built with foreign participation).
The facility has a capacity of 45 billion cubic meters of gas per year; the plant accounts for 60% of all gas processed by Gazprom Processing.
In addition, a Russian FPV drone depot in the Alekseevka area of the Belgorod region of Russia was struck.
Strikes were also carried out against the Russian drone command posts in the areas of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Basan and Hrozove in the Zaporizhzhia region, Tyotkino and Popovo-Lezhachi in the Kursk region of Russia, as well as Zhuravlyovka in the Belgorod region of Russia.
Latest strikes on Russian targets
On June 24, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out a special operation in occupied Crimea. Air defense systems near Kerch and the infrastructure of two military airfields—Saky and Hvardiiske—were targeted.
Also that night, drones from the Unmanned Systems Forces struck Sevastopol’s main power substation.
