Ukraine behind new pipeline explosion in Siberia that supplies Russian military-industrial complex, source claims
Ukraine was behind the operation that caused an explosion on a major gas pipeline in the city of Langepas, Russia’s Tyumen Oblast, a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on July 11.
According to the source, the incident destroyed a section of the key pipeline supplying Russian military-industrial facilities in Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, and Sverdlovsk oblasts.
Langepas is located in western Siberia, some 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The explosion reportedly led to a large fire, with immediate damages estimated at $1.3 million.
Repairing and testing the pipeline could take about a month, the source said. Due to damage in a swampy area, repairs will be challenging, reducing gas supply by 25 million cubic meters and causing indirect losses of nearly $76 million, the source in HUR added.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
Ukraine regularly strikes military targets deep within Russian territory in an effort to diminish Moscow's fighting power.
A similar incident was reported on July 5 in Russia's Vladivostok. Explosions damaged a gas pipeline and destroyed a water pipeline supplying military facilities in the region, a source in HUR told the Kyiv Independent.
The damaged pipeline provides gas to several Russian military facilities on the coast of the Sea of Japan, including the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Armed Forces, the source said.
