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Euromaidanpress
Euromaidan Press
8 Mar 2025
Yuri Zoria


Russia’s attacks on gas facilities aimed at forcing Kyiv to restore transit to EU, ex-Naftogaz chief says

Kobolyev claims Russian forces are deliberately targeting Ukraine’s gas processing infrastructure to force Kyiv into talks that would restore Russian gas transit to the EU via Ukraine.
russia's attacks gas facilities aimed forcing kyiv restore transit eu ex-naftogaz chief says ground structures naftogaz's underground storage ukraine tsn c3d646945673e35dd9a300778cbb14d9 former chairman ukraine's state-owned company naftogaz andrii koboliev believes
Ground structures at Naftogaz’s underground gas storage facilities in Ukraine. Illustrative photo: TSN.
Russia’s attacks on gas facilities aimed at forcing Kyiv to restore transit to EU, ex-Naftogaz chief says

Former chairman of Ukraine’s state-owned gas company Naftogaz, Andrii Koboliev, believes Russian strikes on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure aim to force the restoration of gas transit to the EU by bringing the issue to the negotiation table in Kyiv-Moscow peace talks pushed by US President Donald Trump. He expressed this opinion on Facebook.

For three years of its full-scale invasion, Russia’s deep missiles and drone strikes have mainly targeted Ukraine’s power grid and residential areas. In 2024, Ukraine banned Russian gas transit through its territory. Since then, Russian attacks have increasingly focused on Ukrainian gas facilities.

Kobolev wrote:

“A month ago we were talking about a possible gas blackout and important steps to avoid it. Gas imports and weather helped a lot, March turned out to be warm, and we’ve passed the worst period. But Russians continue to target our gas production, focusing their strikes on its most vulnerable spot – the ground infrastructure for gas processing. A logical question arises – why do this right now, if they can no longer provoke a gas blackout,” Koboliev wrote.

The former Naftogaz chief continued:

The logical question arises – why do this right now, when they can no longer provoke a gas blackout. The only rational answer to this question is the topic of gas transit,” Koboliev explained.

According to the former Naftogaz chief, Russia is trying to use this situation to return the topic of Russian gas to the agenda of peace negotiations, which Ukraine is being pushed toward by the new US administration.

It is no secret that the Kremlin deeply misses its status as the EU’s primary gas supplier.” Koboliev says.

He warned that Ukraine needs to be prepared for various scenarios and have strategies ready that will protect Ukrainian interests.

Kobolev considers the restoration of the Nord Stream pipelines – gas pipelines from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea –  to be the worst-case scenario for Ukraine, noting that such discussions are already taking place.

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