Enemy carried out 129 attacks on Ukraine's gas infrastructure during last heating season – SBU chief
The enemy uses shelling of critical infrastructure as a point of influence on the resilience of society, and the geography of strikes on gas infrastructure indicates an attempt to destabilize the functioning of the entire gas system of the state, acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Yevheniy Khmara said.
"Unable to win on the battlefield, the enemy resorts to terror against the civilian population," Khmara said at the international conference "United for Justice. Accountability for Crimes against Civilians" in Kyiv.
According to the SBU chief, as of early May 2026, the SBU is investigating more than 130,000 criminal proceedings related to Russia’s armed aggression, covering more than 180,000 criminal offenses.
Khmara said, that the SBU is effectively investigating about 80% of the offenses committed by Russia in Ukraine.
"At the initial stage, the enemy’s main target was our energy system. Later, gas, oil and hydropower infrastructure also came under attack. In total, we have recorded more than 596 strikes. And every year this number increases. These are not isolated shellings, but repeated attacks on infrastructure on which the normal life of our citizens depends," he said.
According to Khmara, damage to one infrastructure node usually leads to disruption of the functioning of all systems connected to it.
"Critical infrastructure is used as a point of influence on the resilience of society, basic living conditions, the sense of security and the ability of the civilian population to endure a prolonged war," the acting SBU head stressed.
Thus, according to Khmara, strikes should be assessed not only by the fact of destruction of a specific facility, but also by their humanitarian, social and security effects.
Khmara said that since the beginning of the war, the aggressor has carried out systematic strikes on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. "In 2025, the enemy significantly intensified the attacks. During this period, the enemy struck three times more than during the previous three years. The main goal of the shelling is to reduce gas production, destroy facilities and, especially cynically, create a shortage of energy resources on the eve of the heating season," the SBU chief said.
"During the 151 days of this very heating season of 2025-2026, the enemy carried out 129 attacks on our gas infrastructure… The geography of the strikes indicates an attempt to comprehensively destabilize the functioning of the entire gas system of the state," Khmara stressed.
As a result of the shelling, according to the head of the Ukrainian special service, some facilities were effectively taken out of operation, while a number of others require significant resources and time for restoration.
He also spoke about the enemy’s strike on gas infrastructure in Poltava region on the night of May 5, 2026. "What cynically characterizes our enemy is that it carried out the first three attacks with Shaheds. It paused for several hours, waited until civilians and rescuers arrived at the sites, and then repeated the strike not with Shaheds, but with ballistic missiles," Khmara stressed.
He added: "We suffered losses among the civilian population and among the State Emergency Service rescuers."
Speaking about enemy attacks on oil infrastructure, Khmara noted that the aggressor chooses enterprises that operate for the needs of the civilian population.
Khmara noted that these attacks "did not paralyze the Ukrainian army and did not stop front-line logistics."
"Such attacks should be assessed not only as separate war crimes, but as a systematic policy of terror against the Ukrainian people… Our task is not only to document the consequences of these attacks and prove their systematic nature, but also to identify the perpetrators, commanders and organizers and bring them to justice," he concluded.