After a drone attack in Ukraine, a giant Russian gas plant has suspended its intake of Kazakh gas
Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said that a drone attack in Ukraine forced the Orenburg gas processing facility, the largest of its kind anywhere, to stop receiving gas from Kazakhstan.
Yevgeny Solntsev, the regional governor of Orenburg, had stated earlier in the day that the drone attack had partially damaged the plant and caused a fire at an atelier at the plant. Kommersant, a Russian media outlet, reported that the fire was put out later, citing an operator.
Ukraine has intensified its attacks against Russian refineries, other energy facilities and oil processing plants since August in an attempt to disrupt fuel supplies and deny Moscow funding.
The Ukrainian military reported that there was fire and explosions at the site.
This is the first time that a strike has been reported at the Orenburg complex of gas chemicals.
Gazprom operates the facility which has a processing capacity of 45 Billion cubic metres per year. It handles both gas condensate and oil from Orenburg and Karachaganak fields in Kazakhstan.
The Kazakhstan energy ministry confirmed that Gazprom notified them of the emergency, but did not provide any details about the extent of damage or an estimated timeline for the resumption of full operations.
The attack did not cause any injuries.
Separately the Governor of Russia's Samara Region, Vyacheslav Federishchev, announced on social media that Russian air defences were also in action over night against Ukrainian drones, and that local airports and mobile internet services have been temporarily suspended.
Ukraine tried to attack an oil refinery previously in the Samara area.
In a press release, the Russian Defence Ministry stated that its air defense forces shot down 45 Ukrainian drones over night, including 12 in the Samara Region, 11 in the Saratov Region, and 1 over the Orenburg Regional. Reporting by Moscow Buro, Tamara Vaal and Andrew Osborn. Editing by Louise Heavens and Andrew Osborn.
(source: Reuters)
