Ukrainian drones hit Novy Urengoy gas plant, disrupting production chain

CyberBoroshno noted that FP-1 drones had reached the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug for the first time and that the Novy Urengoy ZPKT is now the farthest target from Ukraine’s state border to have been struck since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Fire Point previously said the drones had flown more than 3,200 kilometers.

CyberBoroshno stressed that the strike differs fundamentally from attacks on oil refineries because this is gas processing rather than oil refining — the first stage in turning unstable gas condensate into marketable products.

Experts said the de-ethanization gas treatment unit hit by Ukrainian drones processes gases released during condensate de-ethanization. Those gases contain ethane, a key feedstock for producing ethylene and polyethylene. The de-ethanization gases are supposed to flow from there to the Novy Urengoy Gas Chemical Complex, which has a design capacity of up to 400,000 tons of low-density polyethylene per year. That accounts for about 10% of Russia’s polyethylene and polypropylene production capacity.

CyberBoroshno also noted that the previous condensate de-ethanization unit, UDK-1, at the ZPKT burned down in August 2021. Gazprom spent three years building a replacement, launching a new UDK-1 with an annual capacity of 8 million tons in October 2024. A 2015 contract put the cost of building the entire de-ethanization complex at 27.7 billion rubles.

The facility has now been hit again — this time not because of an accident, but in an FP-1 drone strike, the OSINT specialists stressed.

They said damage to the de-ethanization gas treatment unit disrupts the entire production chain from condensate to polyethylene. Without gas treatment, the supply of ethane to the Novy Urengoy Gas Chemical Complex stops, halting production of ethylene and finished polyethylene.

Even if the condensate de-ethanization units, UDK-1 and UDK-2, continue operating, there is nowhere to send the de-ethanization gas, CyberBoroshno concluded.

On Sept. 9, Telegram channels reported a drone attack on the condensate preparation plant in the city of Novy Urengoy, in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

The same day, Ukrainian company Fire Point said its FP-1 drones had struck the Novy Urengoy ZPKT.