MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Kiev tried to attack a station providing gas to the TurkStream pipeline in the early hours of February 28, while Vladimir Zelensky was on a trip to Washington, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"In the early hours of February 28, while Zelensky was on a trip to Washington, the Kiev regime, seeking to stop gas supplies to European countries, made another attempt to attack infrastructure facilities at the Russkaya compressor station in the settlement of Gay Kodzor in the Krasnodar Region, which provides gas to the TurkStream pipeline, using three drones," the statement reads.
According to the ministry, Russian air defenses downed all three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles at a safe distance from the station. "The compressor station is currently providing gas to the TurkStream pipeline normally," the statement notes.
The Russian Defense Ministry pointed out that previously, Kiev had tried to attack Russian gas infrastructure facilities twice, targeting the Russkaya station on January 11 and a Caspian Pipeline Consortium facility on February 17. The first attack involved nine drones, all of which were downed but the falling debris caused minor damage to a building and some equipment. Gazprom personnel promptly addressed the aftermath of the attack and repaired equipment at the Russkaya Station, the ministry said. Meanwhile, the February 17 attack, which involved seven fixed-wing drones, put the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station out of operation.