President Zelensky Calls Russia Deliberately Attacks Energy Facilities Ahead Of Winter

Russia's attack on Ukraine's energy facility. (Twitter/@ZelenskyyUa)

JAKARTA - President Volodymry Zelensky said on Wednesday Russia had attacked an energy facility in the Chilean region of southern Ukraine, which thwarted preparations for winter.

He said the gas infrastructure had been attacked in Novosilske Village on the border with Romania, the location of the Orlovka interconnector, which is Ukraine's gas line via the Transbalkan route.

"This is a deliberate attack on our preparations for the warm-up season, really cynical, like every Russian attack on the energy sector," President Zelensky said on Telegram.

Earlier on Wednesday, the governor of the southern region reported an attack on gas infrastructure and the main gas pipeline, saying work was being carried out to pump gas out of the pipeline.

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

According to the Ukrainian transit operator, 0.4 million cubic meters of gas are scheduled to be pumped through Orlovka on Wednesday.

Last month, Ukraine pumped up a small amount of Azerbaijan's gas via the Transbalkan route for the first time and announced plans to significantly increase gas imports from energy company SOCAR Azerbaijan.

The Transbalkan route allows gas shipments from Greece via Bulgaria and Romania to Ukraine.

Kyiv called the route "very important", because it provides access to liquid gas from Greek and Turkish LNG terminals, Azerbaijan and Romania pipeline gases, and, potentially, to Bulgarian offshore gas.

Reuters was unable to confirm details of the attack independently and there has been no immediate comment from Russia.

Ukraine is known to face a serious gas shortage since this year's series of devastating Russian missile attacks, significantly reducing domestic gas production.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but said infrastructure such as the energy system was a legitimate target for helping Ukraine's war efforts.