Ukraine Hits Arctic Gas Plants 3,000km Inside Russia — SkimNews
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- Ukraine struck two Arctic gas condensate facilities in Novy Urengoy and Purovsky district — more than 3,000km from its border — with FP-1 drones, which the Kremlin's envoy to the Urals called the first attack ever to reach the Arctic.
- Fire Point's FP-1 drone — a roughly 6-metre wingspan UAV costing under $60,000 per unit that flies at 140-180km/h — surpassed its previous July record of striking an oil refinery in Omsk (~2,500km from the border).
- The targeted Yamalo-Nenets region holds about 80% of Russia's natural gas production, two-thirds of its gas reserves (26.5 trillion cubic metres), and 13% of its oil reserves; Novy Urengoy is known as Russia's "gas capital."
- The strike came days after US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv with new peace proposals; attacks on both capitals paused during the three-day visit but immediately resumed after their departure, and Zelenskyy called the long-range attack "completely justified."
- European gas prices climbed above €80 ($93) per megawatt-hour this week — the highest level since 2023 on the Dutch TTF benchmark — while European gas reserves sit at about 65%, down from 80% last year, as the Strait of Hormuz blockade constrains LNG imports.
- The European Court of Auditors released a report the same day stating EU member states have not invested enough in alternative energy sources to phase out Russian gas, with "crisis-response objectives often cannot be demonstrated."
Why it matters: European gas prices are already at their highest since 2023 (above €80/MWh), reserves are 20 percentage points below last year, and the EU's own auditors say the bloc hasn't invested enough to quit Russian gas — so each successful Ukrainian strike on Russia's energy infrastructure now lands on a continent less prepared to absorb the shock heading into winter.
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