Sudzha burns 🔥
BREAKING: Drone strike on Russia’s last remaining direct EU gas export route all but eliminates role for energy in Ukraine peace talks
The natural gas transmission system that used to pump Russian gas through Ukraine into Europe is ablaze after being struck by a drone, making a mockery of Donald Trump’s efforts to broker an ‘energy ceasefire’.
Dramatic videos emerged on social media last night showing fires raging from the gas metering station at Sudzha near the Kursk-Sumy border.
Flows along this route were halted on 1 January 2025 when the Russia-Ukraine transit and interconnector agreement expired.
Speculation was mounting around a potential resumption of flows as part of a Trump-brokered peace deal.
The strike on Sudzha brings an end to that speculation, and marks a potential tipping point in how EU natural gas markets price risk emanating from the Ukraine conflict — with distinct echoes of the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.
Article stats: 1,000 words, 5-min reading time, 2 charts