Kyiv reports that Russia has hit the gas transport system of Ukraine's Odesa Region.

A senior Ukrainian official reported on Wednesday that Russian drones had 'hit the gas transport system' in Ukraine’s southern Odesa Region. This area contains several pipelines bringing U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas to Ukraine from Greece.

Mykola Kolysnyk, the deputy minister of energy, refused to say what had happened. The Ukrainian gas transit operator reported that planned volumes for the Transbalkan route, also known as the Transbalkan Gas Transit Route, were mostly unchanged.

Kolisnyk, a Ukrainian TV reporter, said that "in the last 24 hours alone, we've seen the enemy launch targeted attacks, especially in the Odesa area, including the gas -transport system and the gas transport system’s facilities."

In recent months, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure. This includes both gas production and transmission systems.

Kolisnyk said that sweeping Russian attacks on the power supply had made it more difficult to provide electricity, just a day after?Ukrainian authorities announced new restrictions on the use of?power.

Kolisnyk stated that the situation in the integrated power system was complicated by the ongoing shelling. This included both the massive shelling across the entire transmission system as well as localized shelling.

In many Ukrainian regions, rolling blackouts have been occurring and there has been an emergency power cut for several weeks. On Tuesday, power was cut off for about half the residents of Kyiv.

Kolisnyk said, "While we try to recover from an attack, the enemy launches a second."

Prime Minister Yulia svyrydenko announced on Tuesday that her government would impose more restrictions on energy usage and allow for additional imports to help repair the infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.

Ukraine's energy industry is based on the nuclear power plant, but it also uses gas for electricity and heating.

On Tuesday, 2,18 million cubic meters were declared to be transported on the Transbalkan route used for LNG delivery. One of the gas transport companies also said that the pumping rates will remain the same.

The head of Ukraine's National Bank said that Russia's gas strikes have forced Ukraine to import more than 4 billion cubic metres of additional gas for the winter season. (Additional reporting and editing by Olena Hartmash, Philippa Fletcher and Peter Graff)

(source: Reuters)