The explosion is said to have started a fire at the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline, which transports gas from northwestern Siberia in Russia to Europe via Ukraine, writes the Russian Press Agency RBC.
According to Russian media, the fire was extinguished after a few hours. The incident occurred in Chuvashia, just west of the city of Kazan in the sub-republic of Tatarstan.
Extent of damage unknown
The pipeline is currently the main route for the small amount of Russian gas still being sent to Europe.
The Gazprom company, which manages the pipeline, says the incident will have no consequences for gas deliveries. The gas is now being sent through parallel pipelines, it says.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but work on the line should have been carried out shortly before the explosion, reports the Russian news agency RIA.
The pipeline, also known as the Trans-Siberian Pipeline, is one of Russia’s most important natural gas export pipelines. It was built in 1984 and was partly owned and operated by Ukraine.
It’s not the first time
The Russian part of the pipeline is operated by Gazprom. They said on Tuesday they expected to pump 43 million cubic meters of gas to Europe through Ukraine through Sudzha in the next 24 hours.
The pipeline extends from the Urengoy gas field in Siberia to Uzhhorod in western Ukraine, before continuing on to central and western European countries.
This is not the first time that explosions have occurred on the pipeline. In 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, the line was hit by explosions on at least two occasions.
