Explosions Halt Central Asia-Center Gas Pipeline in Russia's Volgograd Region

Explosions have halted gas flow through the Central Asia-Center pipeline in Russia’s Volgograd region, with the shutdown affecting energy supply to several defense-linked facilities, according to Ukrainian and regional reports.

The blasts occurred on August 2 near the village of Dinamovskoye in the Nekhaevsky district, damaging a section of the pipeline. Emergency services and law enforcement were deployed to the scene, and gas transport has been suspended indefinitely. The pipeline, operated by Gazprom, carries natural gas from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan into Russia.

Sources cited by multiple reports said the pipeline supplies energy to several sites connected to Russia’s military-industrial complex, including the Demikhovsky Machine-Building Plant, Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG’s Production Complex No. 1, and the Magnum-K cartridge production plant.

Ukrainian intelligence officials told Kyiv Post the incident follows a coordinated series of drone and missile attacks targeting Russian energy and defense infrastructure. Ukrainian forces said the attacks were launched in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities, including a July 31 missile strike in Kyiv that killed at least 31 civilians, among them five children.

Ukraine’s military claimed responsibility for recent strikes on Russian oil refineries in Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk, a fuel base in Voronezh, and the Electropribor defense plant in Penza. Multiple explosions and fires were reported, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces saying verified targets were struck by units from the Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces (SSO), Security Service (SBU), and Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).

The Russian Defense Ministry said 112 Ukrainian drones were intercepted between the night of August 1 and early August 2, amid attacks reported across Lipetsk, Taganrog, Penza, Voronezh, Samara, and occupied Crimea.