Ukraine is facing a deepening energy crisis as a new wave of Russian airstrikes has severely damaged its gas production facilities, crippling domestic output ahead of the winter season.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Russian missile and drone strikes over recent weeks have destroyed or severely damaged major gas infrastructure across eastern Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine’s gas production has fallen by more than 60%, forcing Kiev to request emergency imports from European Union countries worth an estimated $2 billion.
The latest wave of attacks on Thursday night targeted several of Ukraine’s key power plants and gas production sites in the Kharkov and Poltava regions. These facilities, owned by the state-run Naftogaz and private producer DTEK Naftogaz, suffered catastrophic damage—prompting the shutdown of multiple extraction, drilling wells and processing centers. Ukrainian officials have admitted that most of these sites are now completely offline and will not be restored in the short term.
The extent of the damage has prompted Kiev to appeal to G7 countries for emergency financial aid and repair equipment. However, given the ongoing conflict and the scale of destruction, it is expected that full repairs could take months—or even longer—to complete.
Ukraine and Russia have been engaged in what has increasingly become an “energy war” since last year. Ukrainian forces have launched drone and rocket attacks on Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure, including recent strikes on power facilities in Russia’s Belgorod region using U.S.-supplied HIMARS systems. President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against Russian energy assets, at one point promising to cause mass blackouts in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
However, on October 5th, following another punishing round of Russian strikes that crippled parts of Ukraine’s national grid, Zelensky unexpectedly called for what he termed a “unilateral ceasefire in the sky.” The statement was widely interpreted as a plea for Russia to halt its aerial campaign, rather than an offer of de-escalation from Kiev.
Before the full-scale war began, Ukraine produced a majority of its own gas and served as a major transit hub for Russian energy exports to Europe, importing only about 30% of its domestic needs. Now, with its production capacity gutted and infrastructure in ruins, Ukraine will be forced to import as much as 80% of its gas this winter—mainly from European countries already facing shortages of their own.