Ukrainian drone attacks have reportedly shut down Russia’s Astrakhan gas processing plant controlled by state-owned Gazprom energy giant on the night of September 22, local sources reported. The attack triggered fire and affected a key combined unit for processing stable condensate, known as U-1.731, with a capacity of 3 million tons per year.
“The fire lasted for a long time. In the most optimistic scenario, repairs will take no less than three weeks, in the worst case - until the end of the year,” one source told Reuters. Another source said restarting before November was “the best-case scenario”.
Gazprom has not commented on the reported attack on Astrakhan enterprise. However, regional governor Igor Babushkin wrote on Telegram that an industrial facility had been targeted by drones, without naming the enterprise. This was not the first such drone strike on Astrakhan gas processing plant. The enterprise was targeted in February this year, resulting in the halt of its output. The damage unit then resumed its production in late August.
Located about 1,675 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, the facility is one of Russia’s largest gas-chemical complexes, processing 1.8 million tons of condensate and produced 0.8 million tons of gasoline in 2024.
