Russia halts major gas imports route after pipeline failure near Volgograd

A mysterious “ground subsidence” incident has occurred in Russia’s Volgograd region, disabling the Central Asia–Centre main gas pipeline.

According to sources cited by UNIAN within Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine under the Ministry of Defence, the Russian version of events is that a Soviet-era pipeline stretching for many kilometres failed to withstand gravitational forces near the settlement of Romanovka in the Olkhovsky district of the Volgograd region. The pipeline had for years transported natural gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

“The real cause of the sudden geological incident can be seen in exclusive photos obtained by our special correspondents,” the source said.

Despite the incident being described as “insignificant,” large numbers of emergency and special-service vehicles were deployed to the scene within just a few hours.

“This was likely done to document yet another unique natural phenomenon: soil that, for some reason, selectively subsides beneath strategic gas infrastructure,” the source noted.

The Central Asia–Centre gas pipeline is described as a critical element of the system through which Russia imported up to 12 billion cubic meters of gas annually over many years.

“Gas transportation along this route has now been suspended for an indefinite period,” the source confirmed.

In a separate incident, drones struck the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region on the night of December 5, causing a fire after fuel storage tanks were hit.

Earlier, late on the evening of December 4, Ukrainian forces carried out a strike on a major chemical plant in Russia’s Stavropol region in the south of the country, which also resulted in a fire.

By Tamilla Hasanova