Gas war: Ukraine seizes Sudja, transit city for Russian gas to EU. Heads or tails?

HIBAPRESS-RABAT

By seizing the city of Sudja, a transit city for Russian gas to the EU, Ukraine wants to demonstrate not only its military superiority but also put an end to the flow of gas transit and thus aim to correct its prices soon.

To the surprise of the whole world, including its American ally, which is still trying to understand what is happening (The Guardian), Ukraine has crossed the Russian border with troops and tanks, and launched an apparently successful offensive at the city of Sudja, in the Kursk region. Sudja is a city and municipality in Kursk Oblast, Russia, and the administrative center of the Sudja district. Its population was 5,127, all Russians, according to the 2021 census. It is also considered the transit point par excellence for Russian gas to Europe.

Although the purpose of such an operation remains very unclear, with the hypothesis of a diversion to force Russia to commit troops exerting pressure elsewhere being the most likely, it initially seems rather successful.

According to some observers, Ukraine has thus succeeded in seizing several dozen square kilometers of enemy territory, and in particular all or part of the town of Soudja (Sudzha in Russian), destroying in the process a great many armored vehicles and flying machines – such as a Mi-28 helicopter “shot down” by a drone, which could constitute a first (Newsweek).