Ukraine attacks Russian gas pipeline – reports

Kiev’s forces have targeted a metering station in the Kursk Region,

Ukrainian troops have attacked a key gas pipeline in western Russia that was previously used to deliver gas to the EU, Telegram news channels have claimed.

According to the news channels Mash and Baza, Kiev’s forces damaged the Sudzha gas metering station in the Kursk Region overnight on Friday.

Videos circulating online show a large fire at the facility. It is unclear whether the station was hit by a kamikaze drone or artillery. The authorities have not commented on the reported incident.

Ukraine invaded parts of the Kursk Region in early August, capturing the town of Sudzha and dozens of villages. The Russian troops liberated Sudzha and its surroundings earlier this month. 

Some Russian military bloggers suggested that the Ukrainians may have rigged the gas equipment with explosives before retreating.

The metering station is part of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, which for decades had been delivering gas from Russia to the EU through Ukrainian territory. The flow did not stop even after the Ukrainians captured the station during their incursion last year. 

Kiev, however, has refused to renew the contract with the Russian operator Gazprom and, starting from January 1, stopped the transit.

READ MORE: Drones over Russia: Is there an effective defense?

Following a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 30-day pause on strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. 

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said on Thursday that Kiev would also honor the agreement. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the same day, however, that Ukraine had “violated the truce proposed by the US president.”