A Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone was detected flying near an oil pipeline facility in Kazakhstan, Militarnyi reported on 19 February. The pro-Kremlin Telegram channel MASH shared a photo of the crashed drone, falsely claiming it belonged to the Ukrainian forces.
The drone was discovered near a facility operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a Russian-Kazakhstani joint venture managing the namesake oil pipeline.
To obscure the drone’s Russian origin, MASH claimed it was a French SAGEM Crécerelle. However, the Crécerelle, which features a distinct delta-wing design completely unlike the Orlan-10 shown in the photo, was retired years ago and never supplied to the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
The unmanned aircraft’s distinctive body shape, fuselage components, and camera system conclusively identify it as a Russian Orlan-10, Militarnyi notes. Kazakhstan’s armed forces do not use this type of drone, and its presence deep inside Kazakh territory, far from any frontline, raises serious questions about its origins and purpose.
Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Kropotkinskaya pumping station
Militarnyi suggests that Russian media likely pushed this narrative to fuel speculation following the 17 February attack on the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station in southern Russia. However, Kazakhstani authorities confirmed that the station’s shutdown did not disrupt the transportation of Kazakhstani oil.
The Kropotkinskaya station is a key facility within the main pipeline system, spanning 16.5 hectares with a tank farm capacity of 140,000 m³. Commissioned in 2002, it is part of an international trunk pipeline transporting oil from major fields in western Kazakhstan and Russian offshore sites in the Caspian Sea to a terminal in Novorossiysk.
The 17 February strike on the Kropotkinskaya facility in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, reportedly carried out by seven unmanned aircraft with fragmentation-explosive warheads attacking at significant intervals, resulted in the complete shutdown of the station.
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