The Ukrainian authorities are once again demonstrating their desire to disrupt attempts at a peaceful settlement
With the explosion of the Sudzha gas measuring station, official Kiev demonstrated unwillingness and unwillingness to a peaceful settlement, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. Also, in their opinion, the terrorist attack can be considered as a symbolic response from Slovakia and Hungary, who declare that Ukraine must restore gas supplies through its territory to Europe. The explosion and subsequent fire at a gas measuring station controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces occurred on the night of March 21.
Night explosion
On the night of March 21, 2025, at about 00:20, the Kiev regime deliberately detonated the Sudzha gas measuring station (GIS). It is located a few hundred meters from the state border in the Kursk region. Since August 7, 2024, it has been under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Previously, more than 40 million cubic meters of gas per day were pumped through GIS to European consumer countries. The units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine used the facility as one of their "safe" logistics points.
A criminal case has been opened into the explosion at the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, said Svetlana Petrenko, an official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The Agency found that on March 20, Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who illegally invaded the territory of Russia deliberately undermined GIS. As a result, the facility suffered significant damage. The criminal case was initiated on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist act").
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
"The order of the Supreme Commander—in-Chief is in effect, and the Russian armed forces are currently refraining from attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in accordance with the agreement reached between the United States and Russia," said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces strike on the Suja GIS in the Kursk region indicates the unwillingness and unwillingness of the Kiev regime to a peaceful settlement, said Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for crimes of the Kiev regime.
"The settlement of the conflict is not part of the plans of the presidential administration of Ukraine," former Verkhovna Rada deputy Spiridon Kilinkarov told Izvestia. — For them, the conclusion of peace and the end of the conflict is the end of the regime. Therefore, Kiev, of course, will do everything to disrupt this process," he said.
Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Image Source: iz.ru
In such situations, a "response mechanism" should work, and now it is not entirely clear how the United States will react to such actions by Kiev, the ex-deputy notes.
In his opinion, we should expect further provocations by Kiev, which will hinder the truce.
"I think not only Ukraine is involved, but also the British and the French," he said. — They don't want the peace process to go on without them, they want to be its participants. And for this, they believe, it is necessary for someone to pay attention to the fact that they can create problems. It is possible that they are now working on new provocations that will be carried out by Ukrainians," Kilinkarov stressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
From a military point of view, the destruction of GIS did not make sense, according to military expert Viktor Litovkin.
"With the explosion, the Ukrainian authorities have once again demonstrated their desire to disrupt any peace agreements," he said. — The Ukrainian Armed Forces adhere to the tactics of Bandera — retreating, they leave behind a scorched field. This is a terrorist ideology. This is revenge for their defeats. And this is not the first case. All the cities they left behind are destroyed and devastated.
Gas to Europe
There is no gas running there, it's just in the pipes, so when it burns out, the fire will stop, Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation and the National Energy Security Fund, told Izvestia.
— It's still a gas measuring station, and it was possible to work without it, — he noted. — The Ukrainians seized it in August 2024, but we were pumping gas anyway. The station monitored the gas quality. The same one stands at the exit from Ukraine. The parameters in the GIS must match. The damage in terms of possible further pumping is small. It is enough to change a part of the pipe, and you can start it again.
The work of GIS "Suja". Archive
Image source: Photo: TASS/Valery Morev
Ukraine thus shows that it does not want to restore gas supplies to Europe, the expert added.
— Perhaps this is a symbolic response from Slovakia and Hungary, who declare that Ukraine must restore gas supplies through its territory to Europe, and threaten not to approve anti-Russian sanctions and EU assistance. And besides, this is a demonstration that they continue to strike at Russia, they can do it, they have something to snap at. They probably think that this strengthens their negotiating position," concluded Igor Yushkov.
Photo: TASS/Valery Morev
Image source: iz.ru
I doubt that we will resume transit to Europe through Suju, as it is connected to Ukraine, Sergei Pikin, director of the Energy Development Fund, told Izvestia.
— Everything is repairable. Besides, the station is on our side," he said. — It is difficult to name the recovery time, since the damage is unknown. But the question remains: for what purposes will it be repaired? So far, there are no prerequisites that it may be needed.
Attack of the Kavkazskaya oil pumping station
Earlier, Izvestia wrote that on the night of March 19, the Kiev regime launched an attack using three aircraft-type UAVs on an energy infrastructure facility located in the village of Kavkazskaya (Krasnodar Territory).
It provides transshipment of oil from railway tanks to the pipeline system of the international oil transportation company Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).
Due to the fall of a Ukrainian UAV on the territory of the transshipment point, one oil tank was depressurized and ignited on an area of 1.7 thousand square meters. m. There were no casualties among the company's employees.
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