Russia hit key Ukraine gas interconnector to undermine preparation for winter, Kyiv says

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By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia has struck a gas pumping station in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region used in a scheme to import LNG from the U.S. and Azerbaijan, undermining preparations for winter, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the 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.

Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as confirming the attack on Ukraine’s gas transport system.

Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since a series of devastating Russian missile strikes this year, which significantly reduced domestic production.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said in a statement that the attacked station was used as part of a route connecting Greek LNG terminals with Ukrainian gas storage facilities via the Transbalkan gas pipeline.

It noted that it had already been used to deliver LNG from the United States and test volumes of Azerbaijani gas.

“This is a Russian strike purely against civilian infrastructure, deliberately targeting the energy sector and, at the same time, relations with Azerbaijan, the United States and partners in Europe, as well as the normal lives of Ukrainians and all Europeans,” the ministry said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington this week.

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 the main gas pipeline.

Ukrainian energy officials did not say whether gas would continue to be pumped via the interconnector.

Kyiv says 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.

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, additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alex Richardson)