Fire rises over the Sudzha gas metering station. Photo: social media
A gas metering station in a pocket of Russia’s western Kursk region that was for months under Ukrainian control following a surprise August incursion into Russian territory by Kyiv, came under attack late on Thursday, with videos posted online showing the station engulfed in flames.
The attack was first reported by Russian pro-war channels, which said that the metering station, which is on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha, was still under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) at the time of the attack, despite the fact that Russian troops retook Sudzha last week.
Pro-war Telegram channel Dva Mayora on Friday morning accused the AFU of being behind the attack, stressing that the metering station still formed a part of Russia’s energy infrastructure despite no longer being in operation since the transit of Russian gas imports through Ukraine was ended late last year. As such, it claimed that Ukraine had violated the 30-day moratorium on energy infrastructure attacks that both Moscow and Kyiv pledged to respect earlier in the week.
The Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged the attack later on Friday, and accused the AFU of blowing up the station as its troops withdrew from the Kursk region in the face of a major Russian counteroffensive.
The AFU General Staff dismissed the Russian accusations as “groundless” on Friday, calling them a part of Russia’s “campaign to discredit Ukraine” and noting that the Russian military had repeatedly shelled the Sudzha gas metering station itself during Ukraine’s partial occupation of the region.
Russia and Ukraine have each accused the other of violating the agreement to halt energy infrastructure attacks several times throughout the week.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin ordered the Defence Ministry to halt all energy infrastructure attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday following the phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, which, the ministry claimed, even led Russia to shoot down some of its own drones that had already been launched.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in turn, agreed to the moratorium after speaking with Trump on Wednesday night, but stressed earlier the same day that Ukraine reserved the right to respond in kind if Russia violated the agreement.
