Ukraine reports major Russian attack on oil, gas production facilities

KIEV/MOSCOW, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched one of its largest attacks in recent months on production facilities of Ukrnafta, a member of the Naftogaz Group, the Ukrainian state-owned energy company Naftogaz said on Friday.

According to a statement published on Naftogaz's website, seven oil and gas production facilities operated by Ukrnafta in eastern Ukraine came under attack overnight.

The strikes damaged equipment critical to the company's operations, forcing several production sites to suspend operations and resulting in a significant decline in oil and gas output, the statement said.

Acting CEO of Naftogaz Sergii Fedorenko was quoted as saying that the overnight strike caused no casualties.

The statement also said that four Ukrnafta filling stations in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions had come under attack over the past 24 hours, with no injuries reported among customers or employees.

On the same day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Russian forces used drones to strike three dry cargo vessels transporting weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, two of which were hit in the Black Sea and another at a berth in the port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine's Odesa region.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said on Friday that a total of 34 vessels serving the Ukrainian armed forces had been struck over the past week, including 31 dry cargo vessels and three tugboats.