Key points
- A repeat Russian missile strike on a gas extraction facility in Poltava region has killed two rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES).
- Another 23 rescuers sustained injuries of varying severity, three of them in a serious condition.
- Two employees of the gas extraction facility were killed and a further eight were injured.
- A Russian drone first struck the gas extraction facility, and when SES units arrived to put out the fire, four missiles hit the site one after another.
A repeat Russian missile strike on a gas extraction facility in Poltava region has killed two rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES), with another 23 injured.
The fatalities are Viktor Kuzmenko, deputy head of the SES operational coordination centre in Poltava region and Hero of Ukraine, and firefighter-rescuer Dmytro Skryl.
Viktor Kuzmenko took part in more than 50 operations to deal with the aftermath of shelling. In 2024, following a strike on Poltava, 17 people were rescued under his command.
Dmytro Skryl served with the SES for more than 21 years and repeatedly tackled complex fires at oil and gas industry facilities caused by enemy shelling.
Three of the injured rescuers are in a serious condition, with medics fighting for their lives.
A Russian drone first struck the gas extraction facility, and after the all-clear was given and SES units arrived to extinguish the fire, four missiles were launched at the personnel one after another.
This was not a random shelling – it was a targeted strike on those who save lives.
– the SES.
Two employees of the gas extraction facility were killed and a further eight were injured.
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Russian drones attack Ukrzaliznytsia in Kharkiv, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions
