Britain and France Played Central Role Facilitating Ukrainian Attack on Russian Energy Infrastructure - Moscow
Eastern Europe and Central Asia , Ground , Foreign Relations
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed that the United Kingdom played a central role in a recent Ukrainian attack on Russian energy infrastructure, with France having also supported the attack.
The Sudzha pipeline infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk Region was “de facto destroyed” in a Ukrainian attack using HIMARS rocket artillery systems, the spokeswoman stated, adding: “[We] have reasons to believe that targeting and navigation were facilitated through French satellites and British specialists input [target] coordinates and launched [the missiles].”
“The command came from London,” she added.
The allegations follow confirmation from a range of Western sources that Britain and France have remained at the forefront of efforts to escalate the conflict in Ukraine by deploying regular ground forces to the country, which would build on the already vast presences of contractors and special forces in the country. The two European states have played a key role since 2022 in lobbying the United States to escalate the conflict, including lobbying the country both to provide HIMARS systems, and to allow Western-produced armaments to be used for strikes on targets on internationally recognised Russian territory such as Kursk.
Although Ukraine’s stockpiles of U.S.-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles launched from the HIMARS system have reportedly run short, the systems are still able to be used to launch much shorter ranged rocket artillery strikes which still benefit from satellite guidance.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have attacked Russia’s energy infrastructure in three separate regions, with these strikes considered in Russia to be a violation of a U.S.-mediated moratorium on such actions. Within a 24 hour period from March 27-28 attacks were launched against infrastructure targets in the Belgorod, Kursk and Saratov regions, with the most significant targets including an element of the Russian power grid in Belgorod Region, and the Sudzha gas metering station in Kursk.
The Russian Defence Ministry concluded that “all previous public statements of the Kiev regime about its purported intention to suspend attacks against Russian civilian energy infrastructure are just a smokescreen,” asserting that Ukraine and its European supporters sought to continue the war effort in the very long term while the United States pressed for a more total truce.
Under a 30 day U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire, Russia had ceased attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from March 18, with the latest Ukrainian attacks expected to bring an end to the deal. The attacks have raised considerable speculation as to how the United States will respond.
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