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Ukrainian drone attack on Russian plant affects gas production in Kazakhstan

2025-10-20 22:23:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A Ukrainian drone attack on a gas plant in Orenburg, Russia – one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world – continues to affect gas production in neighboring Kazakhstan, as the European Union prepares to cut off Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.

According to Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry, gas supplies to the Kazakh facility were suspended after the October 19 attack - the first reported attack on the plant, which is part of the Orenburg gas and chemical complex operated by Russian state energy giant Gazprom.

Reuters quoted sources on October 20 as saying that, due to the attack, production at the Kazakh Karachaganak field fell by 25 to 30 percent. The plant processes about 37.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Officials in Kiev have confirmed that Ukraine is behind the attack, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as evidence of "an increase, both in scope and precision, of our long-range strikes on Russia."

"Almost every day or every two days, Russian oil refineries are being hit. And, this helps bring Russia back to reality," he added.

In recent months, Kiev has intensified attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, which appear to be causing fuel shortages and rising prices within the country.

An oil depot in Novokuibyshevsk was also hit last month, and the Ukrainian General Staff reported extensive damage to its infrastructure.

Meanwhile, EU energy ministers approved a plan that envisages phasing out Russian gas and oil imports to the bloc by January 2028, despite objections from Slovakia and Hungary, which remain dependent on Russian supplies.

The plan, along with sanctions on Russia, was prompted by Moscow's war against Ukraine and is part of a broader strategy by the 27-nation bloc.

"Although we have worked hard and tried to remove Russian gas and oil from Europe in recent years, we have not yet fully achieved it," said Lars Aagaard, the energy minister of Denmark, which holds the current EU presidency.

He added that the October 20 agreement is "a decisive step" towards this goal.

Before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia accounted for about 45 percent of the EU's gas imports. Now that figure has fallen to about 12 percent.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on October 20 that the new sanctions package, the 19th in a row, against Russia could be approved as early as this week.