Russian Attacks on Ukraine’s Energy Facilities Reported
The Russian Defense Ministry said their attacks were a response to an alleged Ukrainian strike on a gas compressor station in Russia‘s Krasnodar region. This was on January 11, and it’s important because it affects the TurkStream pipeline. The TurkStream pipeline is how Russia sends gas to Europe.
But Ukraine also launched its own series of strikes against Russian military and industrial targets. These included ammunition depots and refineries. It’s worth noting that Moscow has been targeting Ukrainian homes and energy infrastructure throughout the war, no matter what Ukraine does.
Ukraine was hit again yesterday after launching its own attacks on Russia. There is damage to important buildings in two areas of the country, but nobody got hurt. The people running Naftogaz, a state-owned energy company in Ukraine, said that their gas supplies were not interrupted and they will fix any damage quickly.
The strikes included special missiles called Kh-101, Kh-22, and Kalibr. They are all part of a bigger attack on Ukraine’s energy sector. President Volodymyr Zelensky pointed out how bad this is for Ukraine right now. He said it’s the middle of winter and Russia still wants to hurt their energy system.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister had previously praised Ukraine for stopping Russian gas transit through their country. This was a big deal because it means Russia can’t use Ukraine to send gas to Europe anymore.