Russia and Ukraine trade blame over attack on Russian gas metering station
By Mariya Knight and Maria Kostenko, CNN
(CNN) — Russia and Ukraine traded blame on Friday over an attack on a gas metering station that lies in Russia’s Kursk region, just a few hundred meters from their shared border.
The attack on the facility in Sudzha comes just days after the US proposed both sides pause attacks on energy infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Kyiv had “deliberately attacked” the station, which has been under Ukrainian control since Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024.
Moscow claims Ukrainian forces blew up the facility while “retreating from the Kursk region” with the aim of “discrediting the US president’s peace initiatives.”
On Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry further warned that it “reserves the right to respond, including with a symmetrical response” to what it claims were Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure facilities.
Kyiv has described those accusations as “groundless” and claimed they are aimed at discrediting Ukraine and misleading the international community.
“Indeed, the station has been repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a Telegram post on Friday.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia struck the same station with missiles as recently as three days ago.
“The attempts by the Russians to deceive everyone and pretend that they are adhering to the ceasefire will not work, (neither) will the fake news about the strikes on the gas station,” Ukraine’s Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak posted on X Friday.
The Sudzha gas metering station was the last route through which Russian natural gas was delivered to Europe through Ukraine. Natural gas transportation through Sudzha was terminated on the morning of January 1, 2025, after Kyiv refused to renew the contract.
The attack on the station comes more than a week after the announcement by Russian forces that they had recaptured Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine has occupied during its incursion into Kursk. Ukraine’s occupation of parts of Kursk is seen as its sole territorial bargaining chip amid pressure to negotiate an end to the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy targets in Ukraine after a lengthy telephone call with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, though he stopped short of signing off on a broader ceasefire to end the three-year-long conflict in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also said he would support a pause on striking energy targets.
Talks to pause the conflict will take place in Riyadh next week, with a US delegation expected to first sit down with the Ukrainians followed by the Russians on Monday.
The-CNN-Wire
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