Ukraine accused of planning to destroy Russian gas pipeline
A Ukrainian Deputy Minister has revealed that Kiev planned to blow up a Russian gas pipeline in 2014 and 2015.
Yury Grimchak, deputy minister for the temporarily occupied territories - Ukraine's official definition of the self-proclaimed rebel republics in the country's southeast - revealed the plan on the Zik news channel.
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“Do you think there are no plans to blow up the gas transit system on our side? I will tell you about state plans,” Grimchak said, adding that many Ukrainian government agencies supported the plan.
Another guest on Zik's talk show, Yury Kasyanov - a notorious figure in Ukraine during the suppression of rebel areas, said he himself had plans to blow up the gas pipeline.
Mr Grimchak's revelation appears to be the first admission of the existence of the scheme.
If the idea were to materialize, Europe would be short of about 60 billion cubic meters of gas, a third of the amount of gas Europe imports from Russia. However, for now, the gas transit system remains intact.
Lugansk and Donetsk are two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine, established after the 2014 uprising in the country.
