Ukraine details hits on Russian reservoirs and gas facilities in Samara and Astrakhan
Photo: Ukrainian soldier with a Leleka drone (Getty Images)
Ukrainian military forces have struck Russian oil and gas facilities in the Samara and Astrakhan regions, damaging storage tanks, pipelines, and processing units, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The targets included the Linear Production and Dispatching Station Samara in the settlement of Prosvet and the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant in Astrakhan.
Damage at the Samara station
As a result of the strike on the Linear Production and Dispatching Station (LPDS) Samara on October 2, damage to 11 RVS-20000 storage tanks and three RVSPK-50000 tanks has been confirmed.
Additionally, a section of pipelines and an automated oil product loading station were damaged.
The LPDS Samara is a major hub for the reception, storage, and blending of oil. Crude oil arrives there via main pipelines from Tatarstan, Western Siberia, and other Russian oil-producing regions.
At the facility, oil with varying sulfur content from different fields is blended. This is necessary to form the Urals export grade.
This grade accounts for up to 50% of Russia's total oil exports. Furthermore, the station is involved in supplying the needs of the Russian armed forces.
Damage at the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant
Another strike was carried out on October 4 against the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant in Astrakhan.
According to the General Staff, damage to elements of two gas purification units, U-172 and U-272, has been confirmed there. Additionally, the secondary distillation unit U-1731 was damaged.
The Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant is one of the world's largest producers of elemental sulfur. This product is used, among other things, in nitration processes during the manufacture of explosives and gunpowder.
The enterprise has a design capacity to process up to 12 billion cubic meters of reservoir gas per year. Annually, the plant can produce up to 3.5 million tons of technical sulfur - about half of all Russian production.
As noted by the General Staff, the Astrakhan GPP is also involved in supporting the Russian army.
Over the past day, Ukrainian military forces struck four targets which, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, help Russia finance and wage war against Ukraine.
Two oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara, and Astrakhan regions of Russia came under attack.
Separately, Ukrainian military forces struck a target in the Black Sea.
