By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) -Russia has struck a gas facility in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, undermining preparations for winter, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
He said that gas infrastructure had been attacked in the village of Novosilske on the border with Romania, where the Orlovka interconnector, through which Ukraine receives gas via the Transbalkan route, is located.
“This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season, absolutely cynical, like every Russian blow to the energy sector,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
Reuters could not independently confirm details of the attack and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since a series of devastating Russian missile strikes this year, which significantly reduced domestic gas production.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but says infrastructure such as energy systems are legitimate targets because they help Ukraine’s war effort.
Earlier on Wednesday, the governor of the southern Odesa region reported an attack on gas infrastructure and the main gas pipeline, saying that work was under way to pump gas out of the pipeline.
Ukrainian energy officials did not say whether the interconnector was damaged and whether gas would continue to be pumped.
According to the Ukrainian transit operator, 0.4 million cubic metres of gas was scheduled to be pumped through Orlovka on Wednesday.
Last month, Ukraine pumped a small test volume of Azerbaijani gas through the Transbalkan route for the first time and announced plans to significantly increase gas imports from Azerbaijan’s SOCAR energy firm.
The Transbalkan route allows gas delivery from Greece via Bulgaria and Romania to Ukraine.
Kyiv has called the route “extremely important”, as it provides access to liquefied gas from Greek and Turkish LNG terminals, Azerbaijani and Romanian pipeline gas and, potentially, to Bulgarian offshore gas.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alex Richardson)
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