Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin bombs own gas pipeline to sabotage Trump ceasefire deal, Kyiv says

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into the explosion and fire at a gas pumping station in the Kursk region.

The committee, which probes serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal case over the incident near the town of Sudzha.

The station was once used by Gazprom to export gas to Europe from Russia visa Ukraine, and is in a region largely recaptured by Russian forces this week after heavy fighting with Ukrainian troops who had held it since last year.

The Ukrainian military has denied involvement in the attack.

Ukraine has accused Russia of repeatedly bombing its own gas pipeline in order to blame Kyiv amid a proposed energy ceasefire.

A large cloud of smoke has gathered above a pipeline in Sudzha, in Russia’s Kurk region.

The gas pumping and measuring station has been used as a hub to transport Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.

A huge fire broke out at the facility following a major explosion, but Ukraine has called accusations it carried out the attack “baseless”. .

“On the contrary, the mentioned station has been repeatedly shelled by the russians themselves,” Ukraine’s general staff said.

It added: “Russians continue to create numerous fakes and seek to mislead the international community.

“We urge you to trust only official sources, verify information and do not succumb to manipulation.”

The Czech President was in Odesa when the city was pounded by Russian drones.

Ukrainian officials said Petr Pavel has visited the country’s Black Sea port on Thursday prior to the attacks, which have sparked fires across the city.

“Significantly, it was during our meeting that the enemy once again massively attacked the Odesa region,” Odesa Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messenger app.

“This is another reminder for the whole world: the war is on and Ukraine continues to fight.”

Russia launched 214 drones in an overnight attack on Thursday, Ukraine has said.

Kyiv’s air force said its defences shot down 114 of the drones, and said another 81 were “lost”, in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them.