Russia has accused the United States of trying to destroy TurkStream, the last pipeline carrying Russian oil to Europe.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday that Washington was encouraging “terrorists” to attack his country's forces, and said he wanted to target TurkStream.
“The US does not allow competition in any field, including energy. It is recklessly agreeing with terrorists who want to undermine the power of the European Union,” Lavrov said, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
“They are urging their Ukrainian proxies to block TurkStream following the Nord Stream collapse,” he said.
Russia said on Monday it shot down nine Ukrainian drones that attempted to attack part of the TurkStream infrastructure.
The pipeline is the last to carry Russian gas into the EU after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement that expired at the end of 2024. Stopping the route has also strained the EU's cooperation in the war, with Slovakia. saying that it will cause problems and threatened to freeze EU aid to Kyiv.
Russia called the targeting of the pipeline, which runs under the Black Sea to Turkey before sending gas to Hungary and Austria, “an act of terrorism”.
Kyiv did not respond to the report.
Moscow has accused the US-backed Ukrainian delegation of destroying the Nord Stream. A pipeline under the Baltic Sea exploded in September 2022.
A massive air raid
Ukraine launched a “large-scale” airstrike to hit several locations in Russia on Tuesday night, according to media reports in both countries.
Hundreds of drones and missiles were shot down, while factories were destroyed and schools were forced to close in three cities.
Shot Telegraph video claims that Russia has shot down more than 200 Ukrainian drones and five US-made ATACMS missiles.
The head of Ukraine's Center Against Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, told Ukrainian TV on Tuesday that the protests targeted weapons manufacturing facilities, gas stations and warehouses in Engels, Saratov, Kazan, Bryansk, and Tula.
In the wealthy region of Tatarstan, a drone hit a gas storage tank, sending flames and thick smoke rising into the sky near the city of Kazan, according to media and the regional government.
In Engels, more than 600km (373 miles) southwest of Kazan, a “massive drone attack” destroyed two shops, regional Governor Roman Bussargin wrote in the Telegraph.
Schools in Saratov and Engels will hold classes online because of the violence, he added.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk region in western Russia, said Ukraine had launched a large-scale missile attack but did not say what weapons were used.
Flight restrictions were imposed at airports in Kazan, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk, a Russian aviation watchdog said.
RussiaThe Ministry of Defense did not immediately comment on the attack or the weapons used.
Trump is coming
Ukraine was expelled US-issued ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles in Russia on November 21 last year, which prompted Moscow to respond by launching a new medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, called “Oreshnik” or Hazel Tree, in Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have escalated their conflict in the past US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it had shot down 58 of the 80 aircraft launched by Russia in 11 areas overnight.
Trump has said he wants to put an end to the nearly three-year-old conflict and each side wants to be tougher in negotiations before the new US administration begins any talks to end the conflict.
Uncertainty hangs over the president-elect's intentions to help Ukraine. However, Trump is also keen to persuade European countries to buy more US natural gas (LNG) – a claim that further cuts in Russian gas would help.