because it is “an important junction” –

The Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has had little economic impact on the Russian Federation, but the region is an important transit hub for Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. The region, the Moscow Times writes, is not very large in terms of GDP ($7.5 billion, five times smaller than the GDP of the Moscow region) but “is of disproportionate importance to the Russian economy in several respects, including the region’s role in gas transit to Europe through Ukraine.” Most importantly, the newspaper writes, “Ukrainian forces have taken control of the town of Sudzha and its outskirts, including the gas metering station located just 300 meters from the border through which gas flows into Ukrainian territory and then to European buyers, including Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The station is one of five gas metering stations in the region, but it is the largest and best equipped. Despite the initial panic, gas continues to flow through Sudzha, with neither Ukraine nor Russia announcing plans to cut off supplies.”

The volume of Russian gas transit through Ukraine since Thursday has been estimated at about 42.4 million cubic meters per day, compared with the August average of 41 million cubic meters, Gazprom said. “The proceeds from the transit agreement, although modest at about $800 million, help Ukraine maintain its transportation system and keep gas prices in Europe down. According to analyst Sergei Kaufman and the independent site Meduza, the transit ban would cause spot gas prices to rise by about 20 percent.” On the Russian side, the benefits of maintaining transit “are also quite obvious,” the Moscow Times wrote. The Kursk region, the Moscow Times notes, “is also located in the heart of the fertile agricultural area known as the Black Belt. Overall, Kursk contributes 2.7 percent of the country’s agricultural output, according to official data for 2023. It accounts for about 14 percent of the oilseed crop area and 11 percent of the grain crop area in the Central Federal District, which includes the traditional agricultural regions of Voronezh and Belgorod. However, most of the region’s major facilities — such as the Kursk meat processing plant, the Artel agricultural holding, and the Agroproduct grain processing company — are out of combat range.”