Russian forces strike Ukraine’s largest underground gas storage in Lviv region
The Russian forces struck Ukraine’s largest underground gas storage facility in Ukraine in the morning of January 15.
Photo: flickr.com by Andy Dunaway, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/
Explosion in an air strike
The Bilche-Volitsko-Uhersky underground storage facility is located in the city of Stryi, the Lviv region. The group strike was carried out with the use of high-precision weapons. The storage facility was one of the targets that was hit in the attack, the Defence Ministry said.
According to the Defence Ministry, the strike came in response to Ukraine’s attacks deep into Russia with the use of long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles. In addition, Russia thus responded to the recent attack on the Russkaya compressor station that pumps natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
The head of the Lviv regional administration Maksym Kozytsky confirmed the strike on January 15. He also said that Russia hit other energy facilities in the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that the Russian forces hit Ukraine’s gas infrastructure and energy facilities.
The ground equipment of the facility was damaged in the strikes, Verkhovna Rada deputy Serhiy Nagornyak said. Yet, the facility itself continues operating. It is difficult to destroy this facility because it is located deep underground, the MP added.
It is worthy of note that Russia struck the same facility before — in August 2024.
