Two nights, same target: Russia hits Poltava’s gas fields as 312 Naftogaz workers lie dead since 2022
Russian drones hit Naftogaz gas extraction facilities in Poltava Oblast overnight on 8 March in the second attack in two days, forcing operations to stop at several critical infrastructure sites, the company reported. The overnight barrage — part of a 117-drone wave across Ukraine — also included a deliberate second strike on emergency responders in Kharkiv Oblast after they arrived to extinguish a fire started by the first attack. The strike followed a massive drone attack the previous night on 7 March.
Poltava gas fields hit for second straight night
Russian forces struck Naftogaz Group gas extraction infrastructure in Poltava Oblast with drones on 8 March, the second consecutive day of massed attacks on the same facilities. Operations at a number of critical infrastructure sites were halted as a result. Damage and equipment losses were recorded; no casualties among personnel were reported.
"Company specialists, together with State Emergency Service units, are working to eliminate the consequences. Assessment of the damage is ongoing," Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi said. Naftogaz noted that 312 of its employees have been killed by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war.
Ukraine's Air Force reported that last night's attack combined two Iskander-M ballistic missiles with 117 strike drones of Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas, and other types. Around 70 of the drones were Shaheds. Air defense shot down or suppressed 98 of the UAVs. Both ballistic missiles and 19 strike drones reached their targets across 11 locations.
Russia strikes rescue workers in Kharkiv Oblast during the same attack
In a separate incident the same night, Russian forces attacked the residential area of Velyka Babka in Chuhuiv district, Kharkiv Oblast. A drone strike set a detached house ablaze and injured three residents — a 71-year-old woman, a 55-year-old woman, and a 71-year-old man, according to Kharkiv Oblast head Oleh Syniehubov.
When State Emergency Service crews arrived to fight the fire, Russian forces deliberately struck their fire truck with a second drone. The vehicle was destroyed. The rescuers were not hurt — they had reached shelter before the second strike hit, the Kharkiv Oblast State Emergency Service reported.
Russia also struck the Saltivka district of Kharkiv city with a Shahed drone overnight, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
