MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. The Kiev regime launched a botched drone attack on the Russkaya gas compressor station that ensures natural gas supplies via the TurkStream gas pipeline, with ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) downed by Russian air defenses, the Defense Ministry reported.
In turn, Gazprom announced a new attack on its facilities, which provide export supplies to Turkey via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines.
TASS has compiled the main information about the attack.
Russian Defense Ministry’s statement
- In the early morning hours of March 12, the Kiev regime attempted to halt gas supplies to European consumers by attacking the Russkaya gas compressor station in the settlement of Gai-Kodzor in the Krasnodar Region with aircraft-type strike UAVs, the ministry reported.
- According to its information, between 3:55 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. Moscow time (between 12:55 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. GMT) on March 12, Russian air defense and electronic warfare teams destroyed ten Ukrainian aircraft-type strike UAVs in the airspace over the Russkaya gas compressor station, which ensures gas supplies via the TurkStream gas pipeline.
- The ministry specified that no damage was caused to the facility.
Gazprom’s statement
- Gazprom reported a new repelled attack on its facilities that provide export supplies via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines to Turkey.
- According to the holding, early in the morning on March 12, the Russkaya and Beregovaya compressor stations, which are critical energy infrastructure facilities ensuring the reliability of gas exports via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines, were again attacked by drones.
- All attacks were repelled, Gazprom said.
Expert opinions
- Ukrainian attempts to disable the Russkaya gas compressor station — the starting point for the TurkStream export gas pipeline — demonstrate Kiev's intention to destabilize the European energy market, State Duma lawmaker Sergey Altukhov told TASS.
- The Kiev regime is unsuccessfully trying to provoke Russia to retaliate by attacking Gazprom facilities in the Krasnodar Region in order to tell Western sponsors that it is impossible to pump gas through the pipelines, State Duma lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet said in a coversation with TASS.
- The Ukrainian authorities had commercial motives for attacking Gazprom facilities in Kuban. Amid the global energy crisis, Kiev will try to sell its remaining gas to Europe at inflated prices, State Duma lawmaker and former defense official Leonid Ivlev told TASS.
Previous attacks
- On March 11, Gazprom reported 12 repelled attacks on the Russkaya, Beregovaya, and Kazachya gas compressor stations in southern Russia over the past two weeks, starting on February 24.
- In the early morning hours of March 11, the Kiev regime launched an attack using ten aircraft-type strike UAVs on the infrastructure of the Russkaya gas compressor station in the Krasnodar Region, the Defense Ministry said.
- According to its statement, Kiev also attempted to attack the Beregovaya gas compressor station of the Blue Stream pipeline near the city of Tuapse using 14 aircraft-type strike UAVs.
- The ministry noted that as a result of the coordinated actions of Russian air defense and electronic warfare units, no damage was caused.