Drone strike on Novy Urengoy gas plant
A plant processing gas condensate is on fire in the heart of Russia’s Arctic gas-producing region, more than 2,800 kilometres from the border with Ukraine.
This is the first known attack on a gas facility in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. With a population of more than 100,000, Novy Urengoy is the largest city in the region.
Photos and videos posted on social media show open flames and black smoke rising from the gas processing plant on the outskirts of Novy Urengoy.
The attack on Wednesday was confirmed by Dmitry Artyukhov, governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
In keeping with the conventions of Russian official language, he said the drone raid had supposedly been repelled, but that “falling debris” had caused a “fire” at an industrial facility. According to Artyukhov, there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the attack.
The Ukrainian open-source intelligence project Exilenova+ claims that the drones struck the Novy Urengoy condensate treatment plant. The facility processes unstable oil and gas condensate mixtures from nearby fields on the Siberian tundra.
Novy Urengoy is approximately 2,800 kilometres from Ukraine’s border in a straight line. This is the longest-range confirmed drone strike against Russian territory since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Novy Urengoy is the production centre of Russia’s largest gas-producing region and is known as the country’s “gas capital”. It accounts for 74 per cent of all gas produced in Russia.
