The General Staff has confirmed that a gas processing plant and a helium plant in the Orenburg Region of the Russian Federation have been hit
On the night of 24 June, the Ukrainian Defence Forces carried out a strike on a gas processing plant and a helium plant in the Orenburg Region of Russia. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the General Staff, the targets were located more than 1,200 kilometres from the front line. A fire was reported on the premises of the plants. The extent of the damage is being assessed.
The Orenburg gas processing and helium plants operate as a single complex. The gas processing plant purifies natural gas and produces sulphur, which is used, amongst other things, in the manufacture of explosives and black powder.
The helium plant receives purified, sulphur-free gas and, through deep cooling, extracts valuable components, including helium and ethane. Helium is used in liquid-fuelled rocket engines and guidance systems, whilst ethane is used in the production of speciality plastics, cable insulation for the aviation industry, and plasticisers for solid rocket propellants and gunpowder.
The Orenburg gas processing plant is one of the largest gas chemical complexes in the world. It was commissioned in 1974. The plant has a capacity of 45 billion cubic metres of gas per year. It accounts for 60 per cent of all the gas processed by Gazprom Processing.
The General Staff also reported that a depot housing the Russian army’s FPV drones in the Alekseevka area of the Belgorod Region had been struck. In addition, drone control centres in the areas of Tyotkino and Popovo-Lezhashchiv in the Kursk region, Zhuravlivka in the Belgorod region, Chasovoy Yar in the Donetsk region, as well as Basan and Grozovoye in the Zaporizhzhia region, were struck.
Analysis has confirmed the destruction of two unmanned naval craft belonging to Russian forces on 23 June in the north-western waters of the Black Sea.
Separately, damage to two buildings, followed by a fire, has been confirmed at the ‘Vladimir’ space communications centre in the Vladimir Region of the Russian Federation. This facility supports the operation of satellite and deep-space communications systems used by Russia’s security forces.
