May 5 (Reuters) – A Russian overnight missile and drone attack on gas production facilities in Ukraine’s Poltava and Kharkiv regions killed five people, including two rescue workers, while cutting gas supplies to thousands, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
“Gas production facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions came under fire,” said Serhiy Koretskyi, CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz.
Koretskyi said three company employees and two State Emergency Service rescuers were killed at the facilities, with 37 more people wounded.
“We have sustained significant damage and production losses. This was a combined strike involving UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and ballistic missiles,” he said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia has launched 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones at the country since 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday. One missile and 149 drones were shot down or neutralised, it said, but eight missiles and 14 drones struck 14 locations.
Direct hits and falling debris were reported at two sites in the central Poltava district, regional governor Vitalii Diakivnych said on the Telegram messaging app.
He added the attack cut gas supply to nearly 3,500 customers.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the two rescue workers were killed in a repeated missile attack after emergency services arrived to put out a massive fire started by an earlier attack on a gas production facility in the region.
He added that 23 rescue workers were hurt.
“These are deliberate attacks on those who save lives,” he said on Telegram.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kate Mayberry)
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