A drone attack overnight on October 1 forced the shutdown of the Sukholdolnaya oil pumping station in russia's Rostov region, according to russian Telegram channels.
At least ten drones reportedly hit the site, located in the Verkhnedonskoy district. The strike sparked fires on the roof of the pump unit building and at a transformer facility.
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Regional governor Yuri Slyusar confirmed that a blaze had broken out following a drone crash at the industrial site. russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted eight drones over the Rostov region.
Satellite imagery from NASA also registered fire signatures at the pumping station, corroborating reports of significant damage.
Sukholdolnaya is a crucial node in russia's oil transport system. It feeds into the Kuybyshev–Lysychansk oil pipeline and is also part of the Samara–Sukholdolnaya–Rodionovskaya–Tikhoretsk route, which carries oil from central russia to the Black Sea coast — a corridor designed to bypass Ukrainian territory.
In 2023, Transneft announced that the station’s main pumping unit had been upgraded to a modern system capable of handling 7,000 cubic meters of oil per hour.
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