Ukraine-Russia war latest: Huge explosion in attack on Kyiv gas facilities

Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK suspended operations at several gas facilities in the eastern Poltava region after Russian attacks, the company said on Friday.

“Overnight, the enemy once again attacked the energy infrastructure of DTEK Oil&Gas with drones and missiles,” it said on X.

“As a result of the attack, operations at a number of gas production facilities in the Poltava region were halted.”

Ukrainian forces carried out a drone strike on the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk, near the border with Kazakhstan, overnight, an official from Kyiv’s SBU domestic security service said on Friday.

The distance of the strike, which caused a fire, was around 1,400 km, the official said.

More than 200 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians returned home on Thursday after the latest prisoner swap with Russia.

Both Ukraine and Russia reported that 185 soldiers and 20 civilians were released from Russian captivity yesterday.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the returning troops included some who fought at the battle for Mariupol at the start of the war.

Sergii Koretskyi, Chief Executive Officer of Naftogaz, said that there was “no military purpose or rationale” to the major reported strike on Ukrainian gas facilities.

“This was a deliberate act of terror against civilian facilities that provide gas extraction and processing essential for the normal life of people,” he said on Friday.

“There was no military purpose or rationale. It was yet another display of Russian malice, aimed solely at disrupting the heating season and depriving Ukrainians of the ability to heat their homes this winter.

“As a result of this attack, a significant portion of our facilities has been damaged. Some of the destruction is critical.”

Russia launched 381 drones and 35 missiles at targets overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Friday.

It said that they were targeting energy infrastructure.

Russia was reported to have carried out a major attack on key Ukrainian gas production sites on Friday.

Naftogaz’s CEO said that a strike had hit Ukraine’s main gas production sites in Poltava, Kharkiv region.

The Russian defence ministry said that Russian forces carried out a massive strike on Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises and gas and energy infrastructure facilities, as reported by Interfax.

Russia has lost around 1,113,430 troops since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces assessed in a report published on Friday.

On top of casualties, they claimed, Russia has lost 11,225 tanks, 23,297 armoured fighting vehicles, 33,413 artillery systems and 427 planes, among other equipment.

The Trump administration this week formally notified congress of a $51mn arms sale to Ukraine and its allies, two sources told the Kyiv Post.

An official told the outlet the step ‘signals a sustained US commitment to supplying Kyiv’, despite concern that a government shut down could disrupt the flow of aid to Europe.

One of the reported shipments was said to be a $1mn package for firearms, parts, and components for Ukraine.

The other was described as a wider $50mn package ‘in defense articles, including technical data and defense services’ for Ukraine, the UK and Belgium, the outlet reported.

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian chemical plant some 1,700 kilometres from the frontlines overnight, according to local officials.

Regional Governor Dmitry Makhonin said that Ukraine had hit the Azot chemical plant in Perm Krai on Thursday into Friday.

The plant is one of Russia’s largest nitrogen fertiliser producers and supplies chemicals for both agriculture and explosives.

Russian forces are regularly attempting to jam UK military satellites, the head of UK Space Command has revealed.

Major General Paul Tedman told the BBC that these efforts to disrupt UK-based military activities occur “weekly”, with Russia also closely monitoring the country’s space assets.

“We’re seeing our satellites being jammed by the Russians on a reasonably persistent basis,” Maj Gen Tedman stated.