On October 16, Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz said that Russian attacks had forced the country to temporarily suspend operations at several major gas facilities, leaving Kiev more dependent on imported supplies.
The announcement came ahead of an important meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump on October 17, where energy and arms procurement is expected to be a key issue.
In the latest attack on the night of October 16, President Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 300 drones and 37 missiles at infrastructure across Ukraine. "This fall, Russia is taking advantage of every day to attack our energy infrastructure," he wrote on social network X.
In previous winters, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy and power facilities. Initially, the main targets were the grid, but this year, Moscow seems to have shifted its focus to gas infrastructure.
Mr. Sergii Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz, said that there were 6 major attacks on gas facilities in the month alone. The latest attacks have damaged facilities in many areas and caused some to stop operations.
"This directly affects our domestic gas production, and we are forced to compensate by imports," Mr. Koretskyi said, calling on Ukrainians to use gas economically.
The Ukrainian government is currently negotiating with international allies to raise capital to import more gas for the upcoming cold autumn and winter months.
The Russian attacks have sparked debate over the amount of gas Ukraine will need to import for the upcoming winter. While the Ministry of Energy gave an estimated figure of 4.6 billion cubic meters (bcm), Mr. Serhiy Makogon, former CEO of the gas transport company, warned that the figure could reach 6.3 billion bcm.
Makogon explained that everything depends on Russian attacks. He said that if the attacks continue to increase, Ukraine will have only two options: import more, or limit consumers.
On the Russian side, the country's Defense Ministry confirmed that it had carried out a large-scale attack on Ukraine's gas infrastructure, calling it retaliation for Kiev's attacks.
