Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of Ukraine's oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz, said that recent Russian attacks had damaged 350 natural gas facilities with the loss of gas production capacity of around $700 million.
Chernyshov said at a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development event that Ukraine’s production should be largely restored by the end of this year, Reuters reported.
“We have started the heating season; we expect it to be the hardest ever,” Chernyshov said, adding that energy is another weapon.
Russia fired 38 Kh-101 and Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles, 22 sea-launched Kalibrs, and nine assorted air-launched missiles across Ukraine on Dec. 5.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that it had intercepted over 60 of the missiles.
However, the strike killed at least four people and caused emergency blackouts across the country.
Russia began its campaign targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Oct. 10.
So far, Russia has launched six large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure – on Oct. 10, Oct. 17, Oct. 31, Nov. 15, Nov. 23, and Dec. 5.
The previous attacks killed dozens of civilians in total and caused power and water outages across the country.
