On 28 March, the state-owned energy company Naftogaz reported a further Russian attack on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. This was reportedly the eighteenth large-scale strike since the outbreak of the full-scale war and the eighth since the beginning of the year. No specific details of the damage were disclosed, apart from confirmation that the targets were facilities related to gas extraction – most likely, as in previous weeks, compressor and gas treatment stations. The damage was so severe that, in mid-February, Ukraine was forced to increase gas imports nearly tenfold to meet immediate demand.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that current gas reserves in underground storage facilities are at their lowest in at least a decade. This constrains daily extraction capacity and necessitates costly fuel imports. According to the head of OGTSU (the transmission system operator), Ukraine intends to purchase at least 4 billion cubic metres of gas between April and October 2025. A significant portion of this will be American LNG, delivered via EU terminals, including the Świnoujście LNG terminal.
The latest attacks indicate that Moscow is using ceasefire talks with the United States solely as a means to its own ends. It continues to systematically destroy Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, which the Kremlin has exempted from the moratorium on targeting energy facilities (see ‘Negotiations in Riyadh: unclear agreements, slim prospects for implementation’). The principal challenge for Kyiv will be preparing for the forthcoming heating season – most notably, securing sufficient imported gas reserves amid strained public finances.