Russia Destroys Ukraine«s Gas Production: Expert Assesses How Much Gas Is Lacking for Winter 0 19

In the past week, Russia has launched three massive strikes on Ukraine's gas infrastructure. In particular, on the night of October 15, one of the thermal power plants of Naftogaz of Ukraine was attacked, reported the head of the state enterprise, Sergey Koretsky, on his Facebook page.

"The enemy targeted gas production facilities in Kharkiv region. Prior to this, the enemy specifically attacked the gas infrastructure in Sumy and Chernihiv regions," noted the head of the state company.

Vladimir Omelchenko, director of energy programs at the Razumkov Center, explained in a comment to UNIAN that by attacking gas infrastructure, Russia aims to complicate heating supply for major cities.

"We see that they want to knock out gas production because gas is the main energy carrier for heating major cities. The strategy is clear: they strike at thermal power plants that produce heat and attack the gas from which heat is produced," the expert noted.

According to him, the only way out of this situation is to try to protect energy facilities and increase the import of "blue fuel." At the same time, Omelchenko noted that Ukraine lacks air defense to protect its energy sector from Russian attacks.

When asked how much gas Ukraine will have to purchase due to Russian attacks, the expert replied:

"In my estimates, we need to find about 2 billion euros. About 4 billion cubic meters will need to be purchased over the winter. I see no other way out at the moment."

Instead of gas, in case of a shortage, Ukraine could use fuel oil at thermal power plants, but problems may arise here as well.

"Fuel oil should have been sought long ago. But fuel oil has not been used for many years, and it is unclear what condition the fuel oil infrastructure is in. As far as I know, at some power plants, the fuel oil infrastructure has been dismantled, as with the transition to gas, coal was considered more efficient, and it was not used, leading to the decline of the fuel oil sector... But fuel oil is a very good option," the expert noted, adding that it would be desirable to have "tens, if not hundreds of thousands of tons" in reserve.

Speaking about how long it takes to restore gas production facilities, Omelchenko noted that "it depends on the level of damage."

"Somewhere it can be repaired in a couple of days or weeks, while elsewhere it may take months to repair and order new equipment. There are types of equipment that need to be waited for, as factories are loaded," the expert concluded.

Russian Attacks on Gas Production Infrastructure

Russia continues to systematically attack Ukrainian gas infrastructure. On July 22, the chairman of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Sergey Koretsky, reported a massive attack on Ukrainian gas infrastructure.

Due to Russian attacks, Ukraine had to import "blue fuel." In June 2025, the then head of the Ministry of Energy, Herman Halushchenko, announced plans to pump 4.6 billion cubic meters of gas into storage facilities.

After new Russian attacks, the need for gas imports increased. Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk reported that Ukraine is negotiating the need to increase gas imports by approximately 30%, which amounts to 1.38 billion cubic meters.