A Series of Attacks Targeting TurkStream: This Was Not the First Incident

An attempted drone attack targeted a key facility of the TurkStream pipeline. According to Gazprom, the attack was successfully fended off, and no damage occurred to infrastructure critical for gas exports. The incident is not without precedent: in recent times, several attempted attacks have been reported against TurkStream infrastructure, putting Hungary’s energy supply at risk.

An attempted attack targeted a facility belonging to the TurkStream gas pipeline (illustration, source: AFP)

In connection with the attempted attack, Ukrainian involvement was raised as a possibility. If the investigation establishes that Serbia was not the primary target, but rather Hungary’s supply, it would become clear that the terrorist attack was prepared with the aim of toppling Viktor Orban, Balint Pasztor stated earlier.

Gas deliveries to Hungary along this route could have been completely halted, which would have had serious supply security and economic consequences, especially with regard to winter preparations and the filling of gas storage facilities. TurkStream and its related infrastructure play a key role in Hungary’s energy supply: a significant portion of the country’s natural gas, approximately eight billion cubic meters annually, comes via this route, which is also crucial for regional supply.

TurkStream runs under the Black Sea, connecting Russia and Turkey. The pipeline has an annual planned capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, through which Gazprom transports natural gas to Turkey, as well as onward via Turkish transit to several countries in Southern and Eastern Europe, including Hungary and Slovakia. The system consists of two branches, each capable of transporting 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The current case is not without precedent. Ukrainians had already planned an attack against TurkStream at the time the Nord Stream was blown up. It later emerged that the then commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, had intended for Ukraine to carry out a dual attack.

In 2025, Ukraine attempted drone attacks multiple times against facilities linked to TurkStream in the Krasnodar region. On January 13, nine drones attempted to strike a compressor station; most were destroyed, while debris from one caused minor damage, but operations were not disrupted. On March 1 and March 11, the Russkaya compressor station was targeted, but Russian air defense systems repelled these attempts again, and gas transit remained uninterrupted.

In April, an attack involving eight drones was launched against the Korenovskaya compressor station, which was also successfully defended. On the same night, another gas distribution station near Temryuk was targeted, but the drones were destroyed before reaching the facility. According to another report, during the same period a compressor station belonging to Blue Stream was also attacked, but there was no disruption in supply there either.

 According to the Russian side, the aim of these attacks was to disrupt gas deliveries to Europe, and several similar actions have been carried out against energy infrastructure in southern Russia. In some cases, debris from downed drones caused minor fires, but operations were not halted on any occasion.

Cover photo: An attempted attack targeted a facility belonging to the TurkStream gas pipeline (illustration, source: AFP)