Ukraine Strikes Orenburg Gas Processing Plant And Russia’s Only Helium Plant, Fires Erupt

Ukrainian forces struck the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant and Russia’s only helium plant in Orenburg, setting the complex on fire overnight, the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

“Ukrainian strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea have triggered power outages in its largest city, Sevastopol, according to statements from both sides, as Kyiv intensifies attacks on the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014”

Al Jazeera

The Associated Press reported that the overnight attack hit the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, which is part of a complex that also houses the only helium plant in Russia, and said Orenburg is more than 1,200 kilometers behind the front line.

Al Jazeera

AP also said the same General Staff statement described the operation as part of Ukraine’s aerial campaign targeting energy facilities and military industries that has intensified as Kyiv builds bigger and better long-range weapons.

In response to Ukraine’s latest long-range strikes, Moscow ordered the redeployment of some air defense systems from Russian regions to the capital and to Crimea’s Kerch Bridge, Zelenskyy said, and AP said the bridge connects the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.

The Il Fatto Quotidiano account framed the broader context as a Russia-Ucraina “guerra energetica,” saying Ukrainian drones are hitting “raffinerie di petrolio e infrastrutture per l’esportazione di energia” while Russia targets Ukraine’s gas and energy infrastructure.

In Russian-held Crimea, Ukrainian strikes triggered power outages in Sevastopol, and the Moscow-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev urged residents to reserve phones for emergency communication and said some areas would be without power until at least Wednesday evening.

Al Jazeera quoted Razvozhayev saying, “The enemy is once again striking treacherously, attempting to deprive us of normal living conditions and sow panic,” as trolleybuses in Sevastopol would not operate on Wednesday.

Associated Press

AP said Ukraine’s General Staff also reported overnight strikes on two satellite communication centers, including the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow and another in the Vladimir region east of the capital.

AP added that it was not possible to independently verify the General Staff’s report, and said Russian officials made no immediate comment.

CBC described how Ukraine’s drone offensive knocked out power in the biggest city in Russian-held Crimea on Wednesday and said Russia’s parliament took action to curb growing fuel shortages in many regions.

AP reported that in northern Ukraine, military officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for communities and settlements in the Chernihiv region bordering Belarus starting July 1, according to Viacheslav Chaus, the head of regional military administration, in a statement on his Telegram channel.

“KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces struck a major natural gas processing plant and two key satellite communications centers in their latest nighttime attacks on Russia, Ukraine’s General Staff said Wednesday”

Black Hills Pioneer

AP also said last month Zelenskyy told that his intelligence services learned Moscow stepped up efforts to “draw Belarus much deeper into the war” and launch operations from Belarusian territory, and that Belarus and Russia denied the claim.

Il Fatto Quotidiano described the energy war’s immediate impact as shortages and rationing in both countries, and said Reuters calculations found Ukrainian attacks had interrupted operations of ten plants, reducing the Federation’s oil refining capacity by 17%.

CBC said Russia’s Defense Ministry reported its air defences had shot down 323 drones overnight in regions across the country, while Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 101 drones at Ukraine overnight, of which 95 were destroyed.

AP said Ukraine’s strikes also hit railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in neighboring Crimea, while Zelenskyy said on X that it was “the Russian leadership’s rejection of diplomacy that is prolonging the war,” as the campaign aimed to cut off the vital peninsula supply line.