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Russian strikes kill 2 Naftogaz employees in 3 days

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Russian strikes kill 2 Naftogaz employees in 3 days
Naftogaz facilities under attack in Poltava Oblast on March 27, 2026. (Naftogaz)

Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas giant, Naftogaz, has lost two employees in one week as Russian strikes continue to tear through the company's facilities, CEO Serhii Koretskyi on March 28.

Naftogaz's gas production sites in Poltava Oblast have been under attack for three days in a row, killing Romam Chmykhun, a 55-year-old process operator.

The site was hit by three drones overnight, Koretskyi wrote on Facebook.

Days before on March 26, Russian shelling killed Olha Basenko, a worker at a cogeneration (CHP) plant in Kherson Oblast.

Naftogaz, which provides gas to heat homes in Ukraine, is one of Russia's prime targets in Ukraine. Its facilities have been targeted more than 40 times this year — largely in gas rich Poltava Oblast

The company endured 1,399 Russian drone and missile attacks last year alone — more than the previous three years combined.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has killed 316 Naftogaz employees, including Chmykhun and Basenko.

Russia amped up strikes on Naftogaz in fall 2025, wiping out over half of Ukraine's gas production. Since then, Naftogaz has secured support to procure gas reserves, including U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries last month.

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