Ukrainian drones targeted a major gas processing plant in Russia's Orenburg region on Sunday, igniting a fire and halting operations at the facility, which processes gas from Kazakhstan's Karachaganak field. The Orenburg plant, operated by state-owned Gazprom and boasting an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic metres, was struck amid Kyiv's intensified campaign against Moscow's energy infrastructure. Regional Governor Yevgeny Solntsev confirmed the attack damaged a workshop, while Ukraine's General Staff reported a large-scale blaze affecting a key gas purification unit. The Kazakh Energy Ministry cited Gazprom's notification, stating the plant's temporary suspension disrupted processing of Kazakh-origin gas due to the emergency.

This strike underscores Ukraine's strategy to disrupt Russia's war funding by hitting energy assets that fuel both the economy and military logistics. The Orenburg complex, located near the Kazakh border, integrates production from local fields with imports, making it a linchpin in Eurasian gas flows. No casualties were immediately reported, but the halt in Kazakh gas intake could ripple through Central Asian supply chains, exacerbating tensions in a region already strained by the conflict. Russian defences claimed to have downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 12 over nearby Samara, one over Orenburg, and 11 over Saratov, though Kyiv's forces pressed their aerial offensive undeterred.

Concurrently, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Ukraine might cede territory to Russia for peace, marking another pivot in his stance on the 3.5-year invasion. In a Fox News interview aired Sunday—conducted before recent calls with Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy—Trump remarked that Putin "is going to take something," acknowledging Moscow's battlefield gains. "They fought, and he has a lot of property. He’s won certain property," he said, contrasting U.S. post-war policies. Trump expressed reluctance to deplete American stockpiles, hedging on Ukraine's request for Tomahawk missiles despite Friday's White House meeting. Analysts view such long-range weapons as potential leverage for negotiations, especially after Trump's frustration with Putin's intransigence on peace terms. This reversal follows weeks of Trump's impatience with Moscow and openness to bolstering Kyiv, including recent "tremendous" sanctions on Russian oil giants aimed at pressuring an end to the war.

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Elsewhere, Russian strikes battered Ukrainian regions, with prosecutors alleging modifications to aerial bombs for deeper civilian hits. In Kharkiv, a new UMPB-5R rocket-powered bomb—capable of 130 kilometres—struck Lozova, 150 kilometres south, in its first reported use. Dnipropetrovsk saw 11 injured from drone attacks on Shakhtarske, damaging 14 buildings and a store, plus a coal mine where 192 miners were safely evacuated. Ukraine's air force downed 40 of 62 incoming Russian drones via intercepts and jamming. These escalations highlight the grinding attrition, with no immediate breakthroughs in stalled talks. As winter looms, Trump's territorial concession hints signal shifting Western dynamics, potentially complicating Zelenskyy's maximalist goals amid mounting domestic fatigue and energy vulnerabilities on both sides.

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