Satellite images captured massive fire at Astrakhan gas plant after strike

 The fire was recorded near an open sulfur storage area and a railway loading facility.

“The so-called ‘sulfur maps’ are burning — storage sites for industrial sulfur produced during the purification of gas with a high hydrogen sulfide content,” the caption accompanying the photos said.

According to the report, the gas processing plant is one of Russia’s largest sulfur producers because of the specific composition of local gas condensate.

“When sulfur burns, it produces large volumes of toxic sulfur dioxide, which is why the smoke above the facility has a characteristic light color. For a gas processing plant, this is critical because disruptions in sulfur removal can affect the operation of gas purification units and the pace of gas condensate processing,” analysts at Exilenova+ said.

The analysts also highlighted the strategic importance of the facility, noting that anti-drone nets had been installed across almost the entire territory of the Astrakhan gas processing plant.

Attack on the Astrakhan gas processing plant on May 13

Russian authorities on May 13 reported a drone attack on the Astrakhan gas processing plant near the Caspian Sea, about 1,675 kilometers (1,040 miles) from Ukraine’s border.

Astrakhan Oblast Governor Igor Babushkin claimed the attack had been repelled and that the fire resulted from falling drone debris.

He also said the blaze would likely be extinguished “within several hours.”

Ukraine’s General Staff later confirmed strikes on infrastructure at the Astrakhan gas processing plant in Russia’s Astrakhan Oblast.

A fire broke out at the facility, and the extent of the damage is still being assessed, the General Staff said.

The Ukrainian military also stressed that the plant is an important part of Russia’s gas transportation and fuel infrastructure and is involved in supporting the country’s military-industrial complex.