A Russian drone attack causes major damage to gas transportation system in Poltava region. An explosion rocks a pipeline in Ryazan supplying fuel to Moscow. The Kremlin would reject a U.S. and European proposal of security guarantees for Ukraine, ISW says.
Russian drone attack causes major damage to gas transportation system in Poltava
Russia launched a drone attack on energy and gas infrastructure facilities across six Ukrainian regions overnight into Wednesday, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.
The targeted regions include the ones of Sumy, Poltava, Donetsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Rescue and repair works are underway. The damage is being assessed, it said.
Russia carried out precision strikes on gas transportation infrastructure in Poltava region, causing considerable damage.
“Energy and gas workers are making efforts to restore power and gas supply as fast as possible,” the statement reads.
A major Russian drone attack on energy facilities in Sumy resulted in the suspension of some public electric transportation routes and caused low water pressure or water supply cuts in some areas.
Explosion rocks pipeline in Ryazan supplying fuel to Moscow
A powerful explosion struck the Ryazan–Moscow oil pipeline, one of the main arteries supplying fuel to the Russian capital, Ukrainian media said on Wednesday, citing sources in the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
Reports on local social media said the pipeline was rocked by a powerful explosion on Tuesday. It was followed by a massive fire at a pipeline section, Ukraine’s defense intelligence said.
Emergency services arrived on the site several hours later.
Law enforcement personnel and repair crews were deployed to contain the blaze near the village of Bozhatkovo, on the outskirts of Ryazan, local reports said.
Since 2018, the pipeline has been repurposed by Transneft, a state-run pipeline operator, to supply automobile gasoline. It also supplied fuel critical to the Russian military.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence said the explosion has suspended the “transportation of petroleum products to Moscow indefinitely.”
Kremlin to reject U.S., EU proposal of security guarantees for Ukraine, ISW says
The Kremlin would likely reject a US and European security guarantee proposal like the one US and European officials are reportedly discussing, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an update on Tuesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
The United States is reportedly willing to supply supporting assets to a European-led force grouping as part of postwar security guarantees for Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected the presence of troops from NATO countries as part of any security guarantee for Ukraine in recent weeks.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on August 26 that official Ukrainian and European sources stated that senior US officials told European officials recently that the United States would be prepared to contribute “strategic enablers,” such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); command and control (C2); and air defense assets, to support a future European-led deployment on the ground in postwar Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Ukraine.
High-ranking Kremlin officials have repeatedly rejected Western security guarantees for Ukraine and specifically the presence of troops from NATO countries as part of such guarantees, however.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov recently stated in an interview with NBC that Western states, including the United States, should not be allowed to be responsible for Ukraine’s post-war security.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Spokesperson Maria Zakharova similarly said on August 18 that Russia “categorical[ly] reject[s]” “any scenario that envisages the appearance in Ukraine of a military contingent with the participation of NATO countries.”
A gathering of European officials on Tuesday focused on a plan to send British and French troops to Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal. About 10 countries would be ready to send forces to the war-battered nation, according to Bloomberg News.
Speaking to journalists during a National Prayer Breakfast in Kyiv on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg said the work on drafting security guarantees for Ukraine is underway and is a complex matter, according to a video by the country’s public broadcaster Suspilne translated into Ukrainian.
