An important gas measuring station in Sudzha was blown up by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. What does this mean?

On the night of March 21, armed formations of Ukraine blew up the Sudzha gas measuring station (GIS) in the Kursk region, through which Russian gas was being pumped to European countries. On the same night, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched several attacks on the Kursk NPP. This happened less than 12 hours after the public consent of the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, to refrain from attacks on Russian energy infrastructure facilities. Earlier, on March 18, such consent was also officially given by Russian President Vladimir Putin, immediately giving the relevant order to the Russian Armed Forces. Why Ukraine does not hesitate to break its word is in the Izvestia article.

The attack on the Sudzha plant and the Kursk NPP

• The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked GIS Sudzha, which is located in the Kursk region a few hundred meters from the Russian-Ukrainian border, on March 21 at 00:20. In Russia, the attack was officially recognized as a terrorist act. From August 7, 2024, until recently, this facility was under the control of Ukrainian militants. They carried out the bombing during the retreat. No one was injured.

• Through this station, gas via the Urengoy—Pomary—Uzhgorod pipeline passed through the territory of Ukraine to Slovakia, to a lesser extent to Hungary, Serbia, Austria and Romania. Until January 1, 2025, this was the only gas pumping station in the European direction, then Ukraine stopped transit. The infrastructure of the named pipeline was used by the Russian military in order to suddenly get into the rear of the Ukrainians who occupied the city of Suju at that time and oust them from there.

Gas attack: why Kiev staged an explosion at the Suja measuring station

The Ukrainian authorities are once again demonstrating their desire to disrupt attempts at a peaceful settlement

• The Ukrainian General Staff is trying to shift the blame for the attack on Russia, falsely claiming that Moscow is allegedly attacking its own infrastructure. At the same time, Russia strictly adheres to its promise not to strike at energy infrastructure, while Kiev has been carrying out such attacks for three nights in a row after a telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, during which a corresponding agreement was reached.

• On the same night, Kiev attacked the Kursk nuclear power plant, as a result of which the spent fuel storage was damaged. In the Investigative Committee of Russia, this strike was equated to an attempt at nuclear terrorism.

• On the afternoon of March 21, the station's press service reported on its operation as normal. Power units No. 3 and No. 4 of the NPP are at the capacity set by the dispatch schedule. Power units No. 1 and No. 2 operate in the "no generation" operation mode, the representatives of the station specified.

What do attacks mean?

• The affected party will eventually be the countries of Central Europe, which are in vital need of Russian gas supplies, some of which are currently receiving it in a roundabout way. Recently, there has been talk in the EU about the possibility of resuming gas supplies through Ukraine for Slovakia, which is experiencing an energy crisis (we discussed here how the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine affected Slovakia and its neighboring countries), and the expediency of supplying gas through this pipeline not from Russia, but, for example, Kazakhstan or another country. Now all these theoretical considerations are losing their foundation due to significant damage to the only GIS remaining on this route.

Targeted disruption: Kiev is trying to complicate negotiations between Russia and the United States

To this end, an attempt was made to invade the Belgorod Region and attack a Russian energy facility in the Krasnodar Territory.

• Political scientists agree that one of the goals of the attacks on GIS Suja is to "teach a lesson" to those European countries that oppose the militarization of the EU and do not want to send military aid to Ukraine. On the eve of the strikes, an EU summit was held, at which the leaders of the countries failed to approve a 40 billion euro aid plan for Ukraine. Also, the final statement did not mention the second, reduced version of the budget by € 5 billion. Hungary blocked the plan, and the final statement was issued on behalf of 26 countries. Slovakia shares many of Hungary's positions, but amid the mass protests taking place in the country, the authorities are not going to openly confront the leadership of the European Union.

• Another purpose of the attack is to demonstrate to the United States its true attitude towards the peacekeeping mission that Washington has undertaken. While American diplomats are negotiating with Kiev and Moscow, hoping to bring their positions closer, Ukraine is contributing to the escalation on the front line. France, the United Kingdom and the European Commission, representing the "war party", are interested in this, as they are trying to strengthen their political positions with the help of the Ukrainian crisis.

• It is important that the attacks on Russian energy facilities are taking place a couple of days before the talks in Saudi Arabia, where the United States will hold separate meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations. It is expected that the parties will discuss the details of a technical truce in the Black Sea.