Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had prevented sabotage and a terrorist attack on the South Stream gas pipeline, Interfax reports.

“As a result of a complex of operational and search measures, an attempt by the special services of Ukraine to commit a sabotage and terrorist act on the South Stream gas pipeline, which supplies energy carriers to Turkey and Europe, was prevented,” the FSB said in a statement. press.

The cited source also reported that the detained Russian citizens were “involved in the preparation and provision of resources for a terrorist attack.”

FSB employees claim that they seized four magnetic mines, four kilograms of explosives, slow-acting detonators, 593 thousand rubles and means of communication, which contained “correspondence and negotiations with the curator of the special services of Ukraine, instructions for assembling and installing an explosive device, as well as a transmission means and coordinates”.

The investigative department of the FSB of Russia opened a criminal case on the facts of preparation for a terrorist act, organization of a terrorist community and participation in it, illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, forwarding or transportation of explosive substances or explosive devices in accordance with Art. articles corresponding to the provisions of the Criminal Code of Russia.

The FSB does not disclose the identities of the detainees and other details of the operation it claims to be conducting.

Russia also accuses “saboteurs” of trying to blow up the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

One of the Russian state news agencies “Interfax” recalls that “Gazprom” planned to build a 4-pipe gas pipeline “South Stream” with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters across the Black Sea to Bulgaria.

Russia built the necessary infrastructure on its territory, but after the Moscow government canceled the South Stream project in 2014, it was replaced by Turkish Stream, a gas pipeline with twice the capacity (31.5 billion cubic meters) and consisting of only two pipes.

During a meeting in Astana with Turkish President Recep Erdogan on October 13, Vladimir Putin said that Russian special services had discovered an attempt to undermine this pipeline.

“Turkey proved today that it is the most reliable route for gas supplies to Europe, thanks to your position, Mr. President, your firm position on the construction of the Turkish Stream gas transportation system,” the Kremlin leader told his Turkish colleague.

“Although, as I heard, they also tried to blow it up, but, thank God, it didn’t happen, and it works successfully,” Putin said.

Moscow claims that Britain is responsible for the Nord Stream 1 and 2 explosions

On the same day, Putin’s press secretary Dmytro Peskov told reporters in Moscow that saboteurs were detained during an attempt to blow up the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in Russia.

“Saboteurs were detained, several people were arrested. They wanted to detonate it (the gas pipeline) on our territory, on the land route,” Dmytro Peskov said.

The comments by Putin and his spokesman, most likely part of Moscow’s propaganda war, came after several powerful explosions depressurized the Nord Stream gas pipelines that run through the bottom of the Baltic Sea in late September.

The incident, condemned by NATO and the European Union as sabotage, caused the disruption of two Nord Stream gas pipelines supplying natural gas to Germany, but both were still shut down at the time of the explosions.

Russia has accused the United States and then Britain, in turn, of involvement in the bombings, which the allies deny.

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