Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to disable pipelines that deliver gas to Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia

Russia’s Gazprom has accused Ukraine of trying to disable two pipelines via which around 130mn cubic metres (mcm)/day of Russian gas flows to Turkey and several countries in southeastern and central Europe.

In a March 19 statement, Gazprom claimed that between March 17-19, Russia brought down 26 Ukrainian attack drones that were heading for three large gas compression stations located on the Russian Black Sea coast. The facilities are critical to the technical process required to push gas through the pipelines.

Of the 26 drones, 22 were targeting Russkaya compressor facility, Gazprom said. Russkaya is located in proximity to the 930-kilometre (578-mile) TurkStream pipeline that traverses the Black Sea to Turkey.

Since the full-scale war between Ukraine and Russia began just over four years ago, Moscow has made several claims that Kyiv was plotting to sabotage TurkStream. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a point of drawing attention to such allegations earlier this month.

Gazprom alleged that the four other downed drones were intercepted as they neared the Kazachya and Beregovaya compressor pumping stations. Kazachya enables gas deliveries to Russkaya. Beregovaya is the final onshore pumping facility on the Blue Stream pipeline, which also crosses the Black Sea to deliver gas to Turkey.

Ukraine has not issued a statement on the Gazprom claims.

TurkStream’s gas flow capacity is 32bn cubic metres (bcm)/year. Half of that is delivered to Turkey. The other half reaches land in Bulgaria, from where it is sent on to Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Blue Stream has a maximum throughput of 16 bcm/year. All of its volumes go to Turkey.

Any loss of gas flows to Hungary and Slovakia, in particular, due to a Ukrainian attack on TurkStream infrastructure would cause another big spat between Budapest and Bratislava on the one hand and Kyiv on the other. They are already involved in a war of words over Ukraine’s claim that Russian crude oil supplies cannot reach Hungary and Slovakia via its territory because of damage caused to the Druzhba pipeline by Russian military attacks.

Also, with natural gas prices rocketing due to the loss of energy deliveries caused as a result of the war between the US, Israel and Iran, any reduction in TurkStream or Blue Stream gas deliveries would in all likelihood push gas tariffs higher.

TurkStream and Blue Stream are in fact the last Russian pipelines to still be supplying Russian gas to Turkey and Europe.

Upstream noted that long-term TurkStream gas supply contracts with Gazprom include price calculation mechanisms which provide gas recipients with some protection against any sudden and sharp energy price hikes on the European gas spot market.

European gas prices on March 19 reached their highest levels since 2023 following Iranian strikes on liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Qatar made in response to an Israeli attack on facilities at the largest Iranian gas field, South Pars in the Persian Gulf.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has accepted an offer from the European Commission to provide European Union experts and funds to repair the damage it says has kept the Druzhba oil pipeline out of action on its territory since the turn of the year.

Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijjarto claimed last week that “Ukraine wants to put Hungary under a total energy blockade.”