(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Russian forces launched a massive strike on assets belonging to Ukraine’s state energy group Naftogaz across the eastern, western and central parts of the country, damaging a drilling site, production facilities and a network of filling stations in a multi day barrage that has forced the suspension of operations at key sites, the company confirmed.
On the night of August 9, Ukrnafta, the oil production arm of the group, came under heavy shelling. Dozens of attack drones were deployed against the production infrastructure. The drilling site sustained significant damage, some equipment was put out of operation, and activity at the asset has been suspended. Naftogaz said that safety measures ensured no employees at the attacked facilities were injured.
The previous days, August 7 and 8, saw a wave of drone strikes against seven filling station complexes belonging to the UKRNAFTA retail network. The stations were located in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions. One strike injured a filling station employee, who is now in hospital receiving medical treatment.
On August 8, Russian forces also attacked Naftogaz production facilities in the central part of Ukraine using jet drones. Personnel were in a shelter at the time of the strike. The facility sustained serious damage.
Naftogaz stated that the intensity of enemy attacks on oil and gas infrastructure has increased sharply in recent days. The company said the aim of the strikes is to cause maximum damage to Ukrainian production and other critical infrastructure, in a direct effort to disrupt preparations for the approaching heating season. The group added that its priority remains the preservation of life and the continuation of operations, even under difficult circumstances.
The broader toll on Naftogaz assets in 2026 is severe. Since the start of the year, Russian forces have destroyed 37 filling stations belonging to the group’s network. Of these, 32 were UKRNAFTA stations and five were complexes operated by Ukrgazvydobuvannya. Some of the damaged sites were restored and returned to operation, only to be attacked again.
Naftogaz described the strikes on its retail network as systematic shelling of exclusively civilian infrastructure used daily by thousands of people in cities and communities. The company said such strikes have no military logic. Their goal, it added, is to intimidate the population, disrupt the functioning of critical civilian infrastructure, and complicate the supply of fuel to communities that depend on it.
The losses extend further back. Since the start of Russian aggression in 2014, the UKRNAFTA network has lost 123 filling stations. Of these, 67 remain in territories that are currently under occupation. The rest have been destroyed or are not operating because of their proximity to active combat zones.
Despite the constant attacks, the Naftogaz Group said its filling station network is making every effort to maintain an uninterrupted supply of fuel. The company placed particular emphasis on deliveries to frontline communities, where fuel is critically needed for the operation of emergency services and to sustain the civilian population.
The suspension of operations at the drilling site represents a direct loss of production capacity. Bringing damaged wells and equipment back online requires specialist parts and engineering crews, resources that are already stretched across the country’s battered energy sector. Each day of halted drilling delays future gas and oil output that Ukraine needs to meet winter demand.
The repeated targeting of filling stations that have already been rebuilt indicates an objective beyond one time disruption. The pattern suggests an effort to permanently remove refuelling capacity from specific areas. Frontline communities in the east and south rely on a sparse but essential network of fuel points. Ambulances, fire engines, municipal generators and humanitarian delivery vehicles all depend on reliable access to diesel and petrol.
The financial impact accumulates with each strike. Industry benchmarks suggest that rebuilding a single filling station to operational standard can range from $200,000 to $500,000.
Across 37 stations destroyed this year alone, the gross repair and replacement cost potentially runs into tens of millions of dollars, before accounting for lost trading income during closure periods. The damage to drilling and production infrastructure adds substantially to that burden.
Naftogaz has not disclosed a total financial estimate for the latest wave of strikes. Insurance coverage for assets in a war zone is limited or unavailable, meaning the cost of rebuilding falls directly on the company’s balance sheet or on state support mechanisms. At a time when the group is managing damage to both upstream production and downstream retail assets, the dual burden stretches both capital and engineering resources.
The attacks on filling stations have not been limited to infrastructure. A separate strike on a station in the Mykolaiv region earlier in the year injured three people, including a child. The human cost accompanies the material damage, with employees and customers exposed to risk at sites meant to serve everyday civilian needs.
Ukraine’s government has been racing to secure additional air defence systems and interceptor missiles from Western allies ahead of the winter season. The latest strikes on Naftogaz assets are likely to add urgency to those requests, as the link between fuel supply, production capacity and heating season readiness becomes increasingly direct.
