Ukraine's Naftogaz asks USAID for help with gas for heating

"We are talking, in particular, about methanol, gas compressors, diesel generators and equipment for gas production," Chernyshov said. In October, USAID said it would invest $55 million in Ukraine's heating infrastructure to aid the country's preparations for winter, according to a statement on the Agency's website.

Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz has asked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help with additional natural gas volumes for the heating season, Oleksiy Chernyshov, the company's chief executive said on Monday. Russia has been carrying out massive missile bombardments on Ukraine's energy and power infrastructure roughly weekly since early October, with each barrage having greater impact than the last as damage accumulates and a frigid winter sets in.

Snow has been falling for a couple of days in a row in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a city that had 2.8 million residents before the war, as people struggle with disruptions to electricity supply and central heating. "The key is the additional volume of gas needed to get through this heating season," Chernyshov wrote on his Facebook page after a meeting with Elizabeth McKee, the assistant administrator of the USAID for Europe and Eurasia.

Chernyshov also said that his talks with McKee included sending necessary materials and equipment to Ukraine - on provision of which the Agency has already been working. "We are talking, in particular, about methanol, gas compressors, diesel generators and equipment for gas production," Chernyshov said.

In October, USAID said it would invest $55 million in Ukraine's heating infrastructure to aid the country's preparations for winter, according to a statement on the Agency's website. (Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Michael Perry)