Mutual Escalation: Kyiv Targets Oil While Moscow Strikes Gas Facilities

SadaNews - Ukrainian officials stated today, Tuesday, that 5 people were killed and dozens more were injured in Russian strikes that targeted gas production facilities in the Poltava region (central Ukraine) and Kharkiv region (northeastern Ukraine).

Serhiy Kurietskiy, the CEO of Ukraine's state oil and gas company Naftogaz, announced that 3 employees and 2 rescue workers were killed in Russian attacks using drones and missiles on the company's gas production facilities in Poltava and Kharkiv.

He added that the facilities sustained significant damage and production has ceased. He noted that the attacks resulted in 37 injuries.

Ukrainian Targeting

Meanwhile, Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of Russia's Leningrad region, stated that Kyiv attempted on Tuesday to launch an attack on one of Russia's largest oil refineries, resulting in a fire in an industrial area of the Russian town of Kirishi.

He added, "The main target of the enemy was the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery," clarifying that there were no injuries reported as a result of the attack.

He continued that the fire has been contained and firefighting operations are nearing completion.

Russian data indicates that the refinery processed 17.5 million tons of oil (350,000 barrels per day) in 2024, accounting for 6.6% of the total oil refining volume in Russia.

It produced 2 million tons of gasoline, 7.1 million tons of diesel, 6.1 million tons of fuel oil, and 600,000 tons of bitumen.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that its air defense forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones over Russian territories during the night.

Zaporizhzhia Targeting

In a related context, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the aerial monitoring equipment at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russia in southeastern Ukraine, was damaged due to a drone attack.

The agency stated in a post on X that a team of its experts visited the external radiation monitoring laboratory of the plant, a day after its Russian management announced it was attacked by a drone.

The agency, a UN nuclear regulatory body, said in its statement, "The team observed damage to some of the aerial monitoring equipment of the laboratory as it is no longer functioning."

In the statement, the agency's Director General Rafael Grossi issued a renewed call for "the utmost military restraint near all nuclear facilities to avoid security risks."

Russian forces seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in the early weeks of the Russian military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, both sides have regularly exchanged accusations of military actions that could jeopardize the safety of the plant, as it is located near the frontline of the war.

The plant is currently shut down from electricity production, and it has been subjected to repeated drone attacks since the onset of the conflict.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies