KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian local governor reported that Ukrainian drones overnight bombed a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, starting a fire.
The Orenburg plant, run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom and located in a region of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world, with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic metres.
According to regional governor Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes set fire to a factory workshop and damaged part of it. Solntsev said there were no casualties.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement early Sunday that its air defense forces shot down 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Orenburg region and a total of 23 aircraft over the nearby Samara and Saratov regions.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which did so Attacks on Russian energy facilities have intensified in recent months It says it directly funds and supports Moscow’s war effort.