Ukrainian drones overnight struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a fire, according to the Russian local governor

KYIV, Ukraine -- KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian drones overnight struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a fire, the Russian local governor reported.

The Orenburg plant, run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom and located in a region of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the world's largest facilities of its kind, with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic meters.

According to regional Gov. Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes set fire to a workshop at the plant and damaged part of it. Solntsev said there were no casualties.

Russias Defense Ministry said in a statement early Sunday that its air defense forces had shot down 45 Ukrainian drones during the night, including one over the Orenburg region and a total of 23 over the nearby Samara and Saratov regions.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has ramped up attacks in recent months on Russian energy facilities it says both fund and directly fuel Moscows war effort.

据俄罗斯当地官员称，乌克兰无人机夜间袭击了俄罗斯南部一座大型天然气加工厂，引发火灾。

乌克兰基辅——美联社基辅消息，俄罗斯当地官员报告称，乌克兰无人机夜间袭击了俄罗斯南部一座大型天然气加工厂，引发火灾。

由国有天然气巨头俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司（Gazprom）运营的奥伦堡工厂，坐落于哈萨克斯坦边境附近同名的奥伦堡地区，是全球同类设施中规模最大的生产加工综合体之一，年产能达450亿立方米。

据地区长官叶夫根尼·索恩采夫称，无人机袭击导致工厂内的一个车间起火并部分受损。索恩采夫表示此次事件未造成人员伤亡。

俄罗斯国防部周日凌晨发表声明称，其防空部队夜间击落了45架乌克兰无人机，其中一架在奥伦堡地区上空被击落，另有总计23架在邻近的萨马拉和萨拉托夫地区上空被击落。

乌克兰方面尚未立即置评。近几个月来，乌克兰加强了对俄罗斯能源设施的袭击，称这些设施不仅为莫斯科的战争行动提供资金，还直接助长了其战争势头。