Ukrainian Politician: in 2014 Kyiv considered detonating gas transit pipeline connecting Russia to Europe
The Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, Yuriy Hrymchak, stated on ZIK TV that in 2014-2015, the Ukrainian authorities considered blowing up the Russian gas pipeline that goes through the entirety of Ukraine and brings gas into the countries of Europe.
“Look at 2014-2015.. Do you think there were no plans to blow up the gas transmission system? <...> I am telling you about the plans at the state level,” Hrymchak said.
According to Hrymchak, the gas pipeline going through Ukraine is one of the reasons why there is no full-scale war in Ukraine. “That’s why [the possibility of] cutting the supply is why we fight as we do now” he concluded.
Hrymchak stressed that Russia does everything to try to lay new pipelines to bypass Ukraine, but, according to Hrymchak, they will not be profitable. He also predicted that the Turkish Stream pipeline will not be launched.
Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas in November 2015. The gas that Kyiv has in its underground storage facilities was bought through reverse supplies from Europe. At the same time, in the first half of 2017, the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the EU countries was increased by 21% to 45.7 billion cubic meters of gas.