Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Russian Gas Processing Plant, Oil Refinery

Ukraine has sharply expanded its long-range drone campaign against Russian energy infrastructure, striking a major gas processing facility in the Orenburg region and launching a separate attack on an oil refinery in southern Russia, according to Ukrainian officials and regional authorities.

Kyiv said its drones successfully hit the Orenburg gas processing plant, Russia’s largest facility of its kind, located roughly 1,700 kilometers east of Kyiv. The plant processes gas not only from Russian fields but also from Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field, underscoring the cross-border implications of the strike.

A person familiar with the operation said long-range unmanned aerial vehicles reached the site, though the information could not be independently verified. Orenburg Governor Yevgeny Solntsev confirmed that drones attempted to strike an unnamed industrial facility in the region, adding that the infrastructure sustained minor damage.

The attack marks a further escalation in Ukraine’s strategy of targeting Russia’s energy value chain, extending beyond crude refineries to include gas processing plants, pipelines, export terminals, and maritime oil logistics.

In recent months, Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russia’s seaborne oil exports and vessels linked to the so-called “shadow fleet”, complicating logistics for sanctioned Russian crude and adding pressure to Moscow’s ability to sustain exports amid Western restrictions.

The Orenburg plant has a design capacity of about 45 billion cubic meters per year and was previously hit in October, an incident that temporarily disrupted production at the nearby Karachaganak field. The Kazakh field relies on stable gas processing to maintain normal oil output levels.

Kazakhstan is already facing reduced oil production after earlier drone damage to a loading berth at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, its primary export route for crude from some of the country’s largest oil fields.

Neither Gazprom nor Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry immediately responded to requests for comment.

In a parallel operation, Ukraine’s General Staff said its air force struck the Novoshakhtinsk independent oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region using Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. The extent of the damage is still being assessed.

Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar confirmed that firefighters were battling a blaze at the site of explosions but did not specify which facility had been affected.

The Novoshakhtinsk refinery has an annual processing capacity of approximately 5.6 million tons of crude, or around 110,000 barrels per day, a small fraction of Russia’s total refining capacity but a repeated target in Ukraine’s campaign.

The strikes come as the United States continues to push for a ceasefire in a war that will enter its fourth year in February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that disagreements remain with Washington over territorial issues and the future management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russia early in the 2022 invasion.

The Kremlin said it is reviewing information provided by President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, following recent talks with U.S. representatives in Miami, and will decide on further engagement with Washington based on Putin’s assessment.

Meanwhile, Russia continues its own attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Authorities in Odesa imposed emergency power outages on Thursday after a series of Russian strikes damaged port and industrial facilities. At least one civilian was killed and two others injured, according to local officials.

Odesa, Ukraine’s third-largest city before the war, has been repeatedly targeted in recent days as Moscow intensifies pressure on Ukraine’s southern coastline.

With both sides increasingly targeting energy assets, analysts say the conflict is entering a phase where economic resilience and export capacity are becoming as critical as battlefield gains.

Ukraine’s expanding reach deep into Russian territory highlights the growing role of long-range drones and precision weapons, tools that are reshaping the strategic balance and raising the stakes for global energy markets.