
The Russkaya compression station in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Photo: Gazprom
Ukraine attacked the TurkStream natural gas pipeline’s first compressor station in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region on Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry announced on Monday.
The attack on the Russkaya compressor station, where gas is compressed before being pumped to the next station on the pipeline, caused only “minor damage” the ministry said, adding that all nine drones had been intercepted before they could reach their targets and that there were no injuries.
The ministry said that the strike had been an attempt to stop the flow of Russian gas to Europe, but stressed that the compressor station was “supplying gas to the TurkStream pipeline as normal. We cannot allow interruptions”.
The attack follows the expiry of an agreement on 1 January that allowed Russian gas to transit Ukraine to reach markets in Europe, which led to an immediate energy crisis in Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria.
The TurkStream pipeline, which runs under the Black Sea to Turkey, is used by Russia to export gas to Hungary and the Balkans, and is now the sole operational gas pipeline still connecting Russia to European markets.
Kyiv has not commented on the reported drone strike.
Earlier on Monday, the Defence Ministry reported that eight Ukrainian drones had been intercepted overnight, six of which it said had been shot down over the western Voronezh region, and one each over the western Bryansk and Belgorod regions.