Russia accuses Ukrainian attacks of jeopardizing gas exports: They come at a time of “extreme destabilization”

The Kremlin on Thursday condemned the “intensification” of Ukrainian strikes on Gazprom's compressor stations serving two major pipelines, saying such incidents threaten critical infrastructure and international energy routes, Reuters reports.

Earlier, Gazprom said attacks on three compressor stations serving the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines had become more frequent this week, but all were repelled.

The two pipelines carry Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey, from where some of it is pumped to European countries including Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia.

These are the last remaining Russian pipeline routes to Europe at a time when gas prices have risen sharply due to the war in the Middle East.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which throughout the war has targeted Russian energy infrastructure as a means of undermining Moscow's war effort and cutting its revenues.

Russia has also struck Ukrainian energy targets, including the country's power grid, frequently cutting off electricity and heating.

The attacks come at a time of “extreme destabilization”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the latest Ukrainian attacks created an additional threat to energy markets at a time of “extreme destabilization” caused by war in the Middle East.

“Our military is doing everything possible to eliminate this threat. But this is a threat to critical infrastructure. It is a threat to international energy routes,” Peskov told reporters.

“And at a time when global energy markets feel, to put it mildly, uneasy, such irresponsible and reckless actions of the Kiev regime are capable of further destabilizing the situation,” he added.