Kyiv, Ukraine — KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A Ukrainian drone attacked a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, causing a fire and forcing the plant to stop accepting gas from Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakh authorities said Sunday.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump suggested he may have to give up territory in Kiev in exchange for an end to more than three-and-a-half years of aggression by Moscow, in the latest example of an apparent reversal on how to pursue peace.
The Orenburg plant is operated by state-run gas giant Gazprom and is part of a production and processing complex with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic meters, one of the largest of its kind in the world, located in the region of the same name near the Kazakhstan border. The company handles gas condensate from Kazakhstan's Karachaganak field, along with Orenburg's own oil and gas fields.
Regional governor Evgeny Solntsev said the drone attack set the factory's workshop ablaze and partially damaged it. Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said on Sunday, citing a notice from Gazprom, that the plant was temporarily unable to process Kazakh gas “due to the emergency situation following the drone attack.”
Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement on Sunday that a “major fire” broke out at the Orenburg plant, damaging one of its gas processing and purification units.
Kiev has stepped up attacks on Russian energy facilities in recent months, claiming they are funding and directly fueling Russia's war effort.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian prosecutors claim the Russian government is modifying deadly air-guided bombs to attack civilians deep in Ukraine. Local authorities in Kharkiv announced that Russia had used a new rocket-propelled aerial bomb for the first time to attack a residential area.
Russia used a weapon called the UMPB-5R, which can fly up to 130 kilometers (80 miles), in Saturday afternoon's attack on the city of Rozava, the Kharkiv district prosecutor's office said in a statement. The city is located 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Kharkiv, a considerable distance for weapons to fly.
Russia continued to attack other close-to-frontline areas of Ukraine. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones attacked the Shakhtarske region, injuring at least 11 people. Deputy regional governor Vladislav Khayvanenko said at least 14 five-story buildings and one store were damaged.
Ukraine's General Staff also claimed that Russia's Novokybyshevsk refinery in the Samara region near Orenburg was attacked in a separate drone attack, causing a fire and damaging key refining equipment.
The Novokybyshevsk facility, operated by Russian gas giant Rosneft, has an annual production capacity of 4.9 million tons and produces more than 20 types of oil products. Russian authorities did not immediately acknowledge Ukraine's claims or discuss the damages.
Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement early Sunday that its air defense forces shot down 45 Ukrainian drones during the night, 12 over the Samara region, one over the Orenburg region and 11 over the Saratov region, which borders Samara.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Sunday that Russia launched 62 drones into Ukrainian territory during the night. Of these, 40 were either shot down or veered off course due to electronic jamming.
President Trump appears to be backing away from pressure on Ukraine to give up land lost to Russia in exchange for an end to Russian aggression.
In a Fox News interview on Thursday, when asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was prepared to end the war “without taking a lot of property from Ukraine,” Trump said, “Well, he's going to take something.”
“They fought, but he has a lot of property. He won some property,” Trump said. “We are the only country that goes to war, wins, and then leaves.”
The interview, which aired Sunday on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures,” took place before Trump met with Putin and Zelensky last week.
The comment marks another change in the US leader's stance on the war. In recent weeks, Trump has grown increasingly irritated with Putin and expressed more willingness to help Ukraine win the war.
In an interview Thursday, he did not say explicitly that he was “considering” sending Tomahawk missiles requested by Ukraine, but he expressed concern about the depletion of U.S. weapons stocks.
“We need them for our own good,” Trump said. “We can't give all the weapons to Ukraine. We can't do that.”
Russians and Ukrainians interviewed by The Associated Press last week expressed hope for progress at the upcoming summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest, Hungary, but said they did not expect much progress.
Trump said he also spoke with President Zelensky at the White House on Friday, and the two leaders agreed during a phone call Thursday to meet in the coming weeks.
Contrary to Kiev's expectations, President Trump did not commit to providing Tomahawks to Kiev after the meeting. The missile has the longest range of any weapon in Ukraine's arsenal and will be able to accurately hit targets deep in Russia, including Moscow.
Analysts say the Tomahawk deliveries could be a lever to bring the Kremlin into negotiations after President Trump expressed frustration with President Putin's refusal to concede on key aspects of the peace deal.
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