HUR Hits Russian Gas Lifeline to Arms Plants, Causes $76M in Damage.
With an annual capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters, the pipeline was carrying more than 4.1 million cubic meters of gas at the time of the explosion.
A powerful explosion struck the Russian city of Langepas in western Siberia on the evening of July 10, destroying a major gas pipeline and igniting a massive fire, according to Kyiv Post sources within Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR).
The pipeline, which supplied gas to Russian military-industrial facilities in the Chelyabinsk, Orenburg and Sverdlovsk regions, was targeted in a special operation, the sources said.
With an annual capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters, the pipeline was carrying more than 4.1 million cubic meters of gas at the time of the explosion. Based on current prices, the immediate losses are estimated at $1.3 million.
Repairs are expected to take around a month due to the swampy terrain, reducing deliveries by up to 25 million cubic meters during that time and resulting in indirect losses nearing $76 million, Kyiv Post’s HUR sources said.
“The damaged pipes are located in swampy terrain,” the source told Kyiv Post. “That will complicate restoration and testing, and it will have a real impact on gas flows to the defense sector.”
Residents were alarmed by what local outlets called “powerful bangs,” prompting the deployment of emergency responders and repair crews.
“Around 11 p.m., residents of the ‘Taiga’ cottage cooperative in Langepas were awakened by powerful bangs. The sounds came from the direction of a gas pipeline near the industrial zone,” local Telegram channel Megapolic YUGRA reported.
Kyiv Post’s HUR source described the operation as an attempt to sway public discourse inside Russia away from supporting the Kremlin’s war.
“Western Siberia, with its vast natural resources, literally feeds Moscow and lets the Kremlin live in luxury,” the source said.
“There’s a feeling that if locals begin pushing for independence, maybe these explosions will stop, Siberians will stop dying for Putin’s war, and the region will flourish.”
The explosion comes just days after a similar incident on July 5, when another pipeline – the “Vladivostok” line – exploded under similar circumstances. That pipeline supplied gas to Russian military units along the Sea of Japan.