Ukraine attacking key gas pipelines to Türkiye – Putin

Russian pipelines transporting natural gas to Türkiye have faced constant attack by submarine drones launched from Ukrainian ports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

The Russian leader made the accusation during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi.

“Our ships guard these pipeline systems, and they are constantly under attack, including with the help of drones that are directed to these attacks from Ukrainian Black Sea ports,” Putin claimed, referring to the Blue Stream and TurkStream gas pipelines. 

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in May that it had repelled a Ukrainian attack on the Ivan Khurs, a vessel which guards the two pipelines. The incident involved three unmanned speedboats, which were destroyed 90 miles (145km) northeast of Türkiye’s Bosporus Strait, the ministry said.

Last month, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed hope that the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian natural gas to his country via the Black Sea, would be safe and secure, and that it would not suffer the same fate as the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban previously warned that both Budapest and Belgrade would consider any attacks on Russian gas-supply routes to the region as a reason for war.

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