Ukraine hits Russian gas plant in drone blitz as fuel crisis explodes | World | News

Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on a key Russian gas plant, causing major damage to the facility. It comes as the fuel crisis in Russia intensifies, with motorists forced to wait hours to fill up.

The latest dramatic attack on Russia‘s energy infrastructure took place on Sunday in Ust-Luga – close to the Estonian border – some 621 miles from Ukraine. The Gazprom facility is one of the largest gas processing plants in Europe, producing 13 million tonnes of LNG, 3.6 million tonnes of ethane, and 1.8 million tonnes of propane-butane. The processing plant was attacked by 10 drones in an intense bombardment that caused havoc and substantial damage. Video images shot by local residents show the moment one drone approaches the facility, before crashing into a storage silo.

An almighty explosion can be heard, followed by the appearance of a massive mushroom cloud of flames and smoke.

Alexander Drozdenko – the governor of Leningrad region – confirmed the attack but claimed all 10 UAVs had been shot down. He tried to claim that falling debris from the drones had sparked the fire, contrary to the video evidence.

Analysis of the attack carried out by a collective calling itself the CyberBoroshno community said the drone destroyed the cryogenic gas condensate and gas fractionation unit, which is the “heart” of the complex.

Ukraine has targeted energy infrastructure in an intense campaign, which has helped to spark a major fuel crisis. Long-range drones have knocked out around 13% of Russia’s oil refining capacity since the beginning of August.

To date in August, three major refineries were forced to close production after being attacked by UAVs.

Rosneft’s Novokuybyshevsk and Saratov plants were both hit, while Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery — the largest in southern Russia and one of the country’s top 10 producers — was struck on August 14.

This has led to a drastic spike in petrol prices, with supplies running low and in some areas of the country running g out completely.

The two major petrol brands in Russia are known as AI-92 and AI-95. Since the start of the year the prices of the brands have risen by 38% and 49% respectively.

In Russia‘s Far East region, a queue of 85 cars formed at a petrol station as drivers waited for fresh supplies to arrive.