A Russian overnight air strike hit a Ukrainian natural gas facility in the west of the country, the energy ministry has said.
Ukraine’s air defence shot down 12 of 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by Russia in the second large strike this week, the air force said.
The air alerts in Ukrainian regions lasted for several hours in the middle of the night.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said equipment at its facilities in Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast and Lviv region in the west were damaged by the strikes.
Two energy workers in the Zaporizhzhia region were wounded and taken to the hospital, it said.
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Ivan Fedorov, Zaporizhzhia’s governor, said the fire broke out at an energy infrastructure facility in the region and further damage assessment was under way as repair brigades and emergency workers dealt with the attack.
“We can say for sure: the enemy will not stop. Ukraine needsair defence systems,” Mr Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Moscow has said its air strikes against the Ukrainian energy infrastructure were in retaliation for Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian territory.
Lviv regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said 67 firefighters and 12 special vehicles were involved in putting out the fire in his region on Ukraine’s Polish border. He said there were no casualties in the Lviv region.
Since March, Russian forces have intensified their bombardments of the Ukrainian power system, knocking out about half of the country’s available generating capacity and causing a severe energy crunch.
Despite warm summer weather, Ukrainian cities face scheduled energy cutoffs and the country’s electricity imports from its European neighbours are at record levels.
The ministry said it planned to import a record-high 33,559 megawatt hours (MWh) of power following the latest air strikes on Ukraine’s energy system.
