Russia executed its most extensive assault on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure since the onset of its invasion in 2022, according to a statement from Kyiv’s state-owned gas operator released on Friday.
The Russian military has persistently targeted Ukraine’s electricity grid with successive night-time strikes, leaving millions in darkness and disrupting heating supplies as temperatures dropped below freezing.
“The aggressor launched the largest coordinated attack on gas production facilities since the war began,” Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state gas company, reported.
Naftogaz’s chairman, Serhiy Koretsky, mentioned that “a considerable number of our facilities have sustained damage, with some being critically affected.”
The assault involved the launch of approximately 35 missiles and 60 drones aimed at facilities located in the northeastern Kharkiv and central Poltava regions.
“Some of these were intercepted successfully. Unfortunately, others were not,” the report indicated.
The Ukrainian energy ministry reported outages in several areas but did not provide additional details.
In response, Russia’s military claimed it targeted Ukraine’s “military-industrial” complex in a series of coordinated missile and drone attacks.
Power outages in Ukraine are now less prevalent compared to the winter of 2022-2023, which saw extensive electricity disruptions due to Russian attacks across the nation.
In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defense minister and its chief military commander for their role in strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, labeling these actions as war crimes.
Ukraine has also retaliated with long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, aiming to disrupt crucial energy revenue that supports Moscow’s military efforts.
An anonymous source from Ukraine’s SBU security service informed AFP on Friday that Kyiv had targeted a refinery located approximately 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the front lines in the Orenburg region of Russia.
Unverified footage circulating on social media depicted a drone crashing into what seemed to be a refinery, producing a large plume of gray smoke.
The governor of the region announced on social media that a drone had impacted an industrial site but did not provide further specifics.
