Nine drones were dispatched by the Ukrainians to strike a healthy gas station in the southern Russian province of Krasnodar.
The TurkStream network included the blower place. Apparently, all the robots were shot over. There was some slight destruction, but the turbine place is operating normally.
The , pipeline , runs from Russia to , Turkey. It starts from the Russkaya blower place near , Anapa , in Russia ‘s , Krasnodar Region, crossing the , Black Sea , to the receiving switch at , Kıyıkoy. Some gas flows forward to the , European Union.
The network has two lines, each with a natural gas capacity of 1.11 trillion cubic feet. The second column supplies Turkey, and the second column expands the reach of healthy oil through South East and Central Europe.
The Western countries mainly receiving gas from the TurkStream network are Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Romania, with Hungary and Serbia being the primary recipients due to their close ties with Russia.
However, Kyiv refused to take into account a new offer after Russia’s agreement for the passage of its gasoline across Ukraine expired on December 31st, 2013. Ukraine’s decision was supported by the European Commission, even though the lost imports are equivalent to 5 % of European demand.
A , key report , says that” In 2024, Russian gas reached Europe via three routes: transit through Ukraine ( 30 % ), via Turkey and the Turkstream pipeline ( 31 % ) and as LNG ( 39 % )”.
LNG is mostly delivered from the US and Russia ( with Qatar reportedly joining in the pipeline soon ). To make up for the stoppage of travel through Ukraine, neither the US nor Russia may increase LNG sales. Had the Russian invasion on TurkStream been effective, over 60 % of Europe’s imported natural gas resources would have been cut off.
There are issues with transportation and transfer overland because LNG is more expensive than network fuel. Europe has also , imposed gas regulations , that may impact the use of natural oil and demand gas reduction technology that is not yet available.
The shutdown of Ukraine and the destruction of the majority of the Nord Stream pipelines ( three of the four destroyed ) could very well endanger Europe’s ability to keep its factories running and homes and businesses preheated.
Germany has already experienced a crisis as a result of the economic effects, which has also contributed to the collapse of the Olaf Scholz partnership government. Germany even attempted to count on renewable energy and by burning more coal, despite the country’s commitment to step out coal-fired electricity generation by 2035. It also tried to do so.
What is difficult to comprehend is what Ukraine is attempting to accomplish. They have repeatedly attacked nuclear power stations, including on their own country, that, if prosperous, could have sent energy poison wafting through Ukraine and Europe, as well as pieces of Russia.
The Masters of Kyiv may be trying to show to the Europeans that they should help them bail out Ukraine or that they should attack the pipes that supply Europe, but cutting off gas shipments and attacking pipelines may plunge Europe into a death spiral.
There hasn’t been a single look or boo from the EU or Euro-capitals thus far; either way, they are dismissive of the risk or afraid to say something. Truly, the EU was responsible in the Russian gas limit, but no opposition, at least nothing in public.
Washington, for its part, can benefit from selling LNG, but those sales doesn’t provide sufficient to compensate for the shutdowns, real and possible, and blowback from it was fracture NATO even faster than the Ukraine war.
Stephen Bryen is a former US assistant secretary of defense for plan and a special correspondent for Asia Times. This post, which previously appeared on his Substack newsletter , Weapons and Strategy, is republished with permission.