The Russian president’s words were misinterpreted by the media, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov
In his speech on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was speaking about Kiev’s attempted attacks on Russian ships that are protecting gas pipelines in the Black Sea, not the pipelines themselves, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has clarified.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the Kremlin official said that the media had wrongfully interpreted the president’s words and that he did not mention any direct attacks or attempted strikes on the Blue Stream and Turkish Stream pipelines.
“The president spoke about attacks on the ships that guard these pipelines,” Peskov said, adding that all of these attacks have been successfully repelled.
The clarification comes after Vladimir Putin stated during a press conference on Monday that ships protecting Russian pipelines transporting natural gas to Türkiye were under constant attack by submarine drones that were being launched from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported in May that it had repelled a Ukrainian attack on the Ivan Khurs – a vessel that guards the two pipelines. The incident involved three unmanned speedboats, which were destroyed 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Türkiye’s Bosporus Strait, the ministry said.
Putin noted that such attacks – as well as Kiev’s continued use of Black Sea humanitarian corridors for military purposes – were one of the reasons Russia terminated its participation in the so-called Black Sea Initiative.
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