Hungary and Slovakia have seen their Russian oil supplies halted after a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil pumping station in Tambov region. The attack, confirmed by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, has led to the suspension of crude oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline.
According to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, the strike was “outrageous and unacceptable”. He attributed the disruption to the attack and stated that experts were working to restore a transformer station hit during the assault. The incident coincides with US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Washington.
The halt in oil supplies is significant, as Hungary relies heavily on Russian energy imports through the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Ukraine. Russia supplied around 95,000 barrels of oil per day to Hungary last year. However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has taken a nuanced stance on the incident, stating that “…it is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it.”
The attack on the pipeline follows increased Ukrainian efforts to disrupt Russian energy infrastructure, which has been a key source of revenue for the Kremlin’s war effort. Slovakia’s pipeline operator Transpetrol reported that oil supplies had stopped, but was unaware of the reason for the suspension. Hungarian oil company MOL confirmed that a technical restoration was underway and that oil supply guarantees remained in place.
Source: https://kyivindependent.com/druzhba-pipeline