Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s only plant making helium for rockets

Ukrainian news agencies Ukrinform, Interfax, and NV reported the information, citing intelligence sources.

Local residents said they saw drones in the sky. They later reported activity in the area around the plant.

Around 8:00 p.m., Russian authorities closed a section of the federal M-5 Ural highway near the Perevolotsk settlement and Kholodnyye Klyuchi, where the plant is located.

The Orenburg Helium Plant is described as the only facility in Russia producing helium for rocket manufacturing, the space sector, and the aviation industry. It is also one of the largest in Europe, with an annual capacity to process about 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

HUR stressed that this plant is a key site in Russia’s military-industrial complex and is directly involved in the country’s war against Ukraine.

• Early on the morning of August 11, drones struck the city of Arzamas in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, reportedly targeting the Arzamas Instrument-Making Plant.