On the night of May 5, Russian forces attacked a gas production facility in the Poltava region. When State Emergency Service units arrived at the scene and began extinguishing the massive fire, the Russians launched a second missile strike.
This was reported by Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko.
Four people died as a result of their injuries, including two rescue workers. Eight civilians were wounded.
Twenty-three rescue workers were injured. Three people are in critical condition, and doctors are fighting to save their lives, Klymenko said.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs released the names of the rescuers killed in Poltava region
As a result of the Russian attack, Viktor Kuzmenko, Deputy Head of the Poltava Region State Emergency Service’s Operational Coordination Center — a Hero of Ukraine — was killed. Under his leadership, 17 people were rescued following the strike on Poltava in 2024. He participated in over 50 operations to mitigate the effects of shelling, prevented man-made disasters, and personally extinguished fires at critical infrastructure sites.
The second victim of the Russian strike was firefighter-rescuer Dmytro Skryl. Having served in the State Emergency Service for over 20 years, he repeatedly participated in extinguishing complex fires at oil and gas industry facilities caused by shelling.
