DISINFO: Ukraine’s attack on TurkStream is a US-EU plot similar to the Nord Stream sabotage
SUMMARY
Ukraine’s drone attacks on a Russian compressor station supplying natural gas through the TurkStream pipeline to the EU via Turkiye were prompted by the US and the EU secretariat. According to Salameh, Ukraine's actions aim to undermine EU energy security for two reasons: following orders from the US, which profits by selling more gas to the EU, and displaying ingratitude toward the EU, despite its financial aid and weapons support to Ukraine.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kemlin disinformation narratives about the Nord Stream sabotage, Ukraine and the EU being vassals of the US, and Europe’s unavoidable dependence on Russian energy.
Contrary to what this disinformation story states, there is no evidence that the US or the EU were involved in any way in the Nord Stream sabotage nor in this latest incident around the TurkStream pipeline. Nonetheless, talking about unsubstantiated allegations as if they were established facts while introducing minor variations, as in this case, is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
While the question of who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines remains a mystery, investigations from German and US media, Germany’s prosecutor office and other European police investigators point to the involvement of a recreational yacht called ‘Andromeda’ manned by a Ukrainian commando. German officials have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man identified as Volodymyr Z. as a main suspect. Nothing of what has been publicly released in these investigations points to any possible US participation.
Regarding the alleged drone attack against TurkStream on January 2025, the whole incident remains murky. So far, the only source claiming that this attack had taken place is the Russian government.
In November 2024, Der Spiegel reported that Ukrainian top general Valery Zaluzhny was so enthusiastic about the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage that he "even wanted to expand" the operation to the TurkStream pipeline, but this second part of the operation never happened. This may point to a Ukrainian interest in disabling the last remaining pipeline for Russian gas to be sold in Europe. However, it may also be exploited by Russian disinformation to try to agitate European audiences against Ukraine, since Russian officials have previously accused Ukraine of targeting the TurkStream.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the US destroyed Nord Stream 2 to keep Europe dependent on expensive US gas, that Biden was awarded German Federal Cross of Merit for blowing up the Nordstream pipeline, that a Danish outlet revealed evidence of US fingerprints in the Nord Stream sabotage, or that the Kursk incursion was conceived by the same people who blew up the Nord Stream.