Photo: Gazprom
Moscow, 21 March 2025 – Russia’s Defence Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of blowing up a large gas pumping and metering station near the Ukrainian border as Ukrainian troops retreated from the Kursk region, which they had partially held since August 2024. This was reported by Reuters.
According to the Russian ministry, the facility near the town of Sudzha in Kursk region, previously used by Gazprom to export gas through Ukraine to Europe, was “still” under the control of Ukrainian forces, which used it as a logistics base. “The explosion of an important Russian energy facility by Ukrainian army units retreating from the Kursk region is a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.
Russian officials claim that the incident is part of a series of attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure aimed at “discrediting the peace initiatives of the President of the United States”. Amid these allegations, the Ukrainian military has categorically denied any involvement in the explosion. Instead, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the station was shelled by Russian artillery, calling it a “planned provocation” by Moscow.
The incident comes amid a recent escalation of hostilities in the border region. Sudzha, which was one of the first settlements captured by Ukrainian forces during their offensive in August 2024, recently returned to Russian control after fierce fighting. The gas station in Suzha remained the only point through which Russian gas was transported through Ukraine to Europe until January 2025, when Kyiv refused to renew its transit agreement with Gazprom.
This incident has added tension to the already difficult relations between the parties to the conflict. The Russian side insists that Ukraine’s actions demonstrate its unwillingness to comply with possible ceasefire agreements, particularly in the energy sector. Ukrainian officials, on the other hand, claim that Russia is destroying its own infrastructure to blame Kyiv and justify further escalation.
