By striking at Ukraine's gas infrastructure, Russia wants to achieve return of transit – ex-head of Naftogaz Kobolev
The targeted strikes by the Russian Federation on the Ukrainian gas infrastructure with a focus on its most vulnerable point - the on-shore gas preparation infrastructure are explained by the Kremlin's desire to restore fuel transit through Ukraine to Europe, believes former head of Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev.
"The only rational option for answering this question is the topic of gas transit. It is highly likely that the Russians want to use the strikes on Ukraine's gas infrastructure to return the topic of Russian gas to the agenda of peace negotiations, to which representatives of the new American administration are so actively urging us," he wrote on his Facebook on Friday evening.
"It's no secret that the Kremlin really misses the status of the main gas supplier to the EU. Therefore, they will insist on including this issue on the agenda," he added.
In his opinion, in response to this, Ukraine needs to have a variety of behavioral strategies prepared that will best take into account its interests.
At the same time, the ex-head of Naftogaz noted that the worst situation for Ukraine in the gas sector will be the restoration of Nord Stream, talks about which, apparently, are already actively underway.
At the same time, Kobolev noted that the "risk of gas blackouts" has already passed: "Gas imports and the weather helped a lot, March turned out to be warm, we have passed the worst period."
As reported, on March 7, the Russian Federation carried out the seventeenth combined attack on the gas infrastructure facilities of the Naftogaz group. They noted that the attack damaged production facilities that ensure gas production.
In addition, the DTEK energy holding reported the shutdown of its gas production facilities in Poltava region after damage as a result of the attack on March 7.