The Russian military claims to have shot down nine drones that were on their way to attack a station on Russian territory that is part of the Turk Stream gas pipeline. The attack is said to have taken place on Saturday, but was announced by the Russian side on Monday.
No one is reported to have been injured, and facilities on the ground are said to have suffered only minor damage when parts of the downed drones hit the ground.
According to the Russian report, Ukraine wanted to stop the delivery of Russian gas to Europe in this way. Turk Stream runs from Krasnodar in Russia to the European part of Turkey, where it continues to the Balkans and into the EU.
On January 1, Ukraine stopped all transportation of Russian gas through the country. The pipelines that pass through there have been the main transport route for European imports of Russian gas both before and during the war.
Now that the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea are no longer available, Turk Stream is the last active pipeline that supplies Russian gas to European countries. The EU has taken a stand against warring Russia, but Turkey has maintained a relationship with the country on a broad front.
The Russian claims have not yet been commented on from the Ukrainian side.
