Russia attacks important Ukrainian gas compressor station, sources say

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia attacked a gas compressor station in eastern Ukraine that has an important role in pumping gas in storage facilities, two industry sources said on Thursday, part of an escalation of strikes against energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian energy ministry later said that one of the country's gas infrastructure facilities came under Russian attack overnight. It gave no more details, but said that the damage caused was being assessed.

"Yes, it affects gas injection," one of the sources said.

The Russian defence ministry said that its forces had carried out strikes overnight on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, among other targets.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's energy ministry said an overnight Russian attack had hit energy facilities in the central Ukrainian region of Poltava, causing large fires. Drones damaged a gas transport facility in the attack, it said.

Earlier this month, Russia also attacked a gas pumping station in Ukraine's southern Odesa region used for importing LNG from the U.S. and Azerbaijan, undermining preparations for winter.

Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since a series of devastating Russian missile strikes this year, which significantly reduced domestic production.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but says infrastructure such as energy systems are legitimate targets because they help Ukraine's war effort.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by William Maclean, Aidan Lewis)