Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of blowing up a Russian gas pumping station in a border area where Ukrainian troops have been retreating. Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure in three years of fighting, and Ukraine has struck energy facilities in Russia.

Russia's Defence Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of blowing up a major Russian gas pumping and metering station near the Ukrainian border as Ukrainian forces retreated from the Kursk region, parts of which they had held since August last year.

A fire broke out at night at the Sudzha gas station, which was a key transit point for gas from Russia to Europe before the war. Moscow immediately accused Kyiv of the attack. "The Russians could have done it,