Gazprom plant in Surgut hit by Ukraine, fire 2,400 km from the border

Ukrainian forces struck a gas condensate processing plant in the Russian city of Surgut, about 2,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. A fire broke out at the facility after the strike, the Czech outlet reports, citing the Unian agency.

The plant in Surgut, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, processes gas condensate and produces motor and aviation fuel. It belongs to Gazprom. The facility's design capacity is 12 million tonnes of feedstock a year.

Strikes on refineries and pressure from the US

Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that Kyiv could meet the US halfway and stop attacks on Russian fossil fuel processing plants. Donald Trump demanded an end to the strikes, arguing that they push up fuel prices around the world. He also announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, although, according to the outlet, neither side knew anything about it.

In exchange for not attacking, Zelensky asked Russia to stop hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Later he proposed swapping a pause in attacks on Russian refineries for missiles for the American Patriot air defense system. The US, the outlet writes, “supported” the demand not to hit refineries by restricting the Starlink network, which is vital for Ukraine. Kyiv fears that the recent temporary slowdown of the satellite network is part of an effort by Trump to force Kyiv into a humiliating capitulation to Vladimir Putin.

A swap for a bigger Starlink reach

According to The Wall Street Journal, it would be more advantageous for Trump to back a deal offered in Ukraine last week by Republican senators Roger Wicker (Mississippi) and Kevin Cramer (North Dakota). Kyiv could stop attacking Russian refineries in return for extending the reach of the Starlink network (Starshield) about 300 kilometers deeper into Russian territory.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz