Russia plans to stage TurkStream pipeline sabotage to force EU sanctions relief
Nation27 March, 09:50 AM
This plot marks Russia's attempts to use the global energy crisis to increase supply of its energy resources to the European Union market.
The action plan was prepared earlier amid the escalating situation in the Persian Gulf, HUR explained.
An echo of this was Vladimir Putin's publicly issued "warning" at an FSB board meeting on Feb. 24, 2026, regarding preparations to blow up the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the Black Sea.
In this context, attention should be paid to the non-accidental nature of the accusations of "energy terrorism" against Ukraine by Russian UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya at a Security Council meeting on March 23, intelligence officials noted.
Russian media widely spread his talking point: "Attacks on export infrastructure facilities that ensure the supply of Russian gas via the TurkStream and Blue Stream do not stop. In recent days, UAV attacks have been carried out on the Russkaya compressor station in Krasnodar Krai, as well as Kazachya and Beregovaya."
A special role in executing the Kremlin's plans is assigned to Russian intelligence services, HUR emphasized. They have developed action plans to increase supply of Russian energy resources to the EU market. To implement this scenario, they are considering a set of active measures to exacerbate the hydrocarbon deficit in European countries. Specifically, options are being explored to suspend the operation of the TurkStream gas pipeline and the Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline, which supply energy resources to Europe, under the pretext of damage from Ukrainian UAV strikes.
Suspending the operation of these pipelines will inflict losses on Western energy companies and create a raw material deficit in the EU, according to Russian assessments. This will trigger a significant spike in oil prices and ultimately force the European Commission to ease sanctions against the Russian energy sector "under the pressure of objective circumstances."
Pro-Russian Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó claimed on March 11 that Ukraine allegedly attacked TurkStream infrastructure in Russia, which supplies gas to Hungary, as previously reported.
Szijjártó repeated his accusations a week later, claiming that Ukraine allegedly launched a 22-drone strike on a critical gas pipeline facility in an attempt to implement a "total energy blockade" of Hungary.