Ukrainian attack on EU-bound Russian gas pipeline: What happened
Russian officials have accused Ukrainian forces of destroying a gas metering station while retreating from the city of Sudzha in Kursk Region. Moscow has condemned the attack as an act of terrorism and a violation of the partial ceasefire agreed this week by the presidents of Russia and the US. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky promised to honor the agreement.
The facility’s role
The Sudzha gas metering station is part of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, which runs through Russia’s Kursk Region, into Ukraine and further into Europe. For decades, the pipeline had delivered gas from Russia to the EU and the flow did not stop even after Kiev’s forces captured the station in August. Deliveries were only shut off at the start of this year after Ukraine refused to renew the contract with Russian operator Gazprom.
The destruction of the metering station
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday that shortly after midnight, Kiev’s forces retreating from Kursk blew up the Sudzha gas metering facility.
💥 Russia: Ukraine blew up the gas transit station in Sudzha, Kursk region. pic.twitter.com/QwPu1raxF3
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) March 20, 2025
The station was seized by Ukraine’s forces during their initial incursion into Kursk Region back in August and they had been using the site as a secure logistics base, the ministry said.
However, in recent weeks, Kiev’s troops have been rapidly losing ground in the area, and while retreating from the city of Sudzha, they decided to deliberately blow up the station, the Russian military has said, calling the demolition of the key energy site “nothing short of an intentional provocation.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee has since launched a criminal probe, classifying the Ukrainian attack on the station as an act of terrorism and vowing to identify and bring to justice everyone involved in the incident.
Partial ceasefire
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a phone call on Tuesday to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. While Russia did not agree to a complete truce, citing a number of necessary preconditions, Putin approved a month-long pause on strikes targeting energy facilities. Later, Kiev agreed to the partial ceasefire.
According to Moscow, Friday’s attack effectively means that Ukraine has violated that agreement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov citing the incident as evidence that Kiev cannot be trusted.
“Everyone can see how much one can trust Zelensky’s word and the word of other representatives of the Kiev regime. This is something we have repeatedly warned about,” Peskov told reporters after the attack.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has also suggested that Kiev’s attack on the Sudzha station and other provocations against Russian energy infrastructure are aimed at discrediting Trump’s peace efforts.
Second violation of ceasefire
The attack on the Sudzha station marks the second time Ukraine has been accused of violating the partial truce since it came into effect on Tuesday. On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the ceasefire was announced, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Kiev had launched three kamikaze drones against an oil transfer facility in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, resulting in damage to an oil reservoir and a fire.
The facility is used to transfer crude to a pipeline operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which works with US oil giants such as Chevron and ExxonMobil.
“Clearly, this was a premeditated provocation by the Kiev regime aimed at derailing the US president’s peace initiative,” the Russian military said after the attack.
The Kremlin also noted that the incident demonstrated a lack of reciprocity from Kiev on de-escalation.
