Ukrainian intelligence: Russia develops comprehensive plan to regain foothold in European energy market
Russia is trying to use the global energy crisis to increase supplies of Russian energy resources to the EU market, the Main Intelligence Agency of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian leadership has developed a comprehensive plan to return to the European energy market. Representatives of the Russian authorities at all levels have been involved in implementing the plan.
The action plan had been prepared earlier amid escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf. An echo of this was Vladimir Putin’s public "warning" at a meeting of the FSB board on February 24 this year about preparations to sabotage the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian intelligence noted that, in this context, attention should be paid to the fact that Russia’s accusations against Ukraine of "energy terrorism" were not accidental. These accusations were voiced by Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, at a UN Security Council meeting on March 23 this year. Russian media widely circulated his statement: "Attacks on export infrastructure facilities ensuring supplies of Russian gas through TurkStream and Blue Stream have not ceased. In recent days, UAV attacks have been carried out on the Russkaya compressor station in Krasnodar territory, as well as on Kazachya and Beregovaya."
Ukrainian intelligence stresses that a special role in carrying out the Kremlin’s plans is assigned to Russian special services. They have drawn up measures aimed at increasing supplies of Russian energy resources to the EU market. To implement this scenario, Russia is considering a set of active measures to deepen the hydrocarbons shortage in European countries. In particular, options are being explored for suspending the operation of TurkStream and the Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline, which supply energy resources for the benefit of European countries, under the pretext that they were damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes.
According to Russia’s assessment, suspending the operation of these pipelines would make it possible to inflict losses on Western energy companies, create a raw materials shortage in the EU, trigger a significant rise in oil prices and ultimately force the European Commission to ease sanctions on Russia’s energy sector "under pressure of objective circumstances."
