The governor of Russia’s Astrakhan region told residents not to panic on Wednesday after its main city, close to a huge gas chemical complex that was attacked by Ukrainian drones this week, was enveloped in a cloud of natural gas.
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Governor Igor Babushkin said the gas that people could smell was the result of work to restart production at the plant near the southern city of Astrakhan, which has a population of about 475,000 people.
“Dear citizens, this morning the city was covered by a cloud of natural gas, which has a specific smell that appears after processing,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Specialists are carrying out restoration work and have started to launch production this morning. Now the start-up and adjustment process is under way, including the launch of flare-burning.”
He did not make clear which production was being restarted. Three industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday the Astrakhan gas processing plant was likely to suspend motor fuel production for several months.
Babushkin said some gas flares had been extinguished when the plant was shut down after the attack, and restarting them required a release of gas that was then “ignited, like on a household gas stove”.