An attempt was made to destroy the final working pipeline carrying Russian gas energy into Europe, Moscow claims, stating it was attacked by a flight of drones at the weekend.
Nine Ukrainian fixed-wing type suicide attack drones attempted to strike the Russian end of the Turkstream gas pipeline on Saturday, the Kremlin has alleged, stating the purpose of the attack was to “halt gas supplies to European countries”. Ukraine has not responded to the allegations, and while its leadership has been bitterly critical of European nations still buying Russian energy, Kyiv said that confirming the facts of Moscow’s claim has not yet been possible.
The Kremlin asserted the flight of attack drones attempted to strike the compressor station at the beginning of the pipeline in Russkaya Krasnodar, close to occupied Crimea. The facility gets the gas up to pressure before it enters the pipeline under the Black Sea for transit to Turkey’s northern coast, making the facility an essential part of the system. The gas is then shipped from Turkey along the Balkans into central Europe.
Russia says it shot down all nine drones, but that falling debris from repelling the attack landed on the plant, causing “minor” damage to a building and a “gas measuring unit”. They state that the staff of the Russian state energy company Gazprom was able to respond quickly to make good the damage and that the delivery of gas to Europe via Turkey was not interrupted.
The Russian Ministry of Defence blamed the “Kiev regime” for the attack and said the objective of the incident was “to halt gas supplies to European countries”.
Reuters notes it could not independently confirm the incident. It is often the case in the relatively opaque Ukraine war that confirmation of particular events comes from both sides agreeing they took place, even if they disagree over the relative success of an attack or defence.
Russia has previously accused Ukraine of trying to attack Turkstream, with an alleged strike on a warship said to be guarding the pipeline claimed in 2023.
This weekend’s strike comes just days after the final pipeline delivering Russian gas to Europe through the territory of Ukraine shut down, having come to the end of its contract unmolested despite it transiting an active warzone. The shutdown, as well as earlier bombings of the Nordstream pipes, left the Turkstream the only working pipeline still bringing Russian natural gas into Europe.
While Turkstream can carry a considerable 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, nevertheless, actual Russian gas imports to Europe are now eight per cent of what they were before Moscow renewed its invasion in 2022.
Many European nations have broadly succeeded in replacing the Russian energy on which they once satiated themselves, but at a cost: Russian gas was the cheapest energy source going for most European states and replacing it has meant importing LNG at a far higher cost. And while some European countries were geographically well situated to organise LNG imports, and had economic power enough to absorb the higher costs, others have struggled and, in some cases, have remained reliant on Moscow imports even during the war.
These countries, in some cases, have come under withering attack by Ukraine for refusing to hobble their own economies to flaunt their support for Kyiv. Perhaps the most prominent instance is Slovakia, whose Prime Minister’s refusal to get involved in the Ukraine war has earned him the title of being a Putin sycophant from critics and even a belly full of bullets during a pro-Ukraine assassination attempt last year. Ukraine’s Zelensky metaphorically gave Prime Minister Fico both barrels on Sunday afternoon, calling him short-sighted and guilty of “shadowy schemes”.
Fico’s Slovakia had been one of the main countries hit by Ukraine’s ending of Russian gas transits earlier this month, but made arrangements to still receive Russian gas — via Turkstream. While continued access to cheap Russian gas serves a clear purpose for countries like Slovakia, it comes with its own costs, such as Russia’s long-clear willingness to use cheap energy as a tool to exert control and now also Ukraine’s apparently unforgiving attitude towards those it sees as traitors.
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