Night surge of attacks: Russia struck by explosions at gas processing and oil refining plants
On the night of Sunday, October 19, Russia experienced a series of serious incidents that shook regional energy facilities.
Explosions erupted in the Orenburg and Samara regions, causing extensive damage to critical infrastructure.
According to local authorities, these attacks, carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), targeted two strategically important industrial sites.
In Orenburg, at a gas processing plant that is part of the Orenburg gas chemical complex, an explosion occurred leading to a fire in one of the production shops.
Governor Yevgeny Solntsev reported that no casualties resulted from the attack, but the plant’s operations were significantly impacted.
Simultaneously, in the Samara region, multiple explosions at the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery generated thick smoke and several zones of fire.
Witnesses described loud blasts and black smoke rising into the sky.
The Novokuibyshevsk refinery, with a capacity of 8.8 million tons of oil annually, is one of the country’s main producers of oil products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and fuel oil, and is part of the Rosneft group.
The events suggest a targeted assault on Russian critical infrastructure, which could have severe consequences for regional and national energy security.
These incidents raise concerns over the safety of strategic facilities amid ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and growing geopolitical tensions, emphasizing the fragile state of Russia’s energy infrastructure amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and military confrontations.