MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Thursday condemned what it called an intensification of Ukrainian attacks on Gazprom gas compressor stations serving two major pipelines, saying such
Kremlin: Ukrainian Attacks Jeopardize Major Russian Gas Pipelines to Europe
Escalation of Attacks on Russian Gas Infrastructure
Intensification of Ukrainian Strikes on Compressor Stations
MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Thursday condemned what it called an intensification of Ukrainian attacks on Gazprom gas compressor stations serving two major pipelines, saying such incidents threatened critical infrastructure and international energy routes.
Gazprom said earlier that attacks on three compressor stations supporting the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines had increased in frequency this week, but all of them had been repelled.
Significance of TurkStream and Blue Stream Pipelines
The two pipelines carry Russia gas across the Black Sea to Turkey, from which some of it is pumped to European countries including Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia.
They are Russia's last remaining pipeline routes serving Europe, at a time when gas prices have spiked sharply because of the war in the Middle East.
Ukrainian and Russian Strategies Targeting Energy Infrastructure
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which throughout the four-year conflict has targeted Russian energy infrastructure as a means of undercutting Moscow's war effort and reducing its revenue.
Russia has also pounded Ukrainian energy targets including its electricity grid, frequently cutting off power and heating.
Kremlin's Response and Global Energy Market Impact
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the latest Ukrainian attacks created an additional threat to energy markets at a time of "extreme destabilisation" caused by the Middle East war.
"Our military is doing everything possible to eliminate this threat. But this is a threat to critical infrastructure. It is a threat to international energy routes," Peskov told reporters.
"And at a time when global energy markets are feeling, to put it mildly, uneasy, such irresponsible, thoughtless actions by the Kyiv regime are capable of further destabilising the situation."
Reporting and Editorial Credits
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Mark Trevelyan and Jason Neely)
