Attack on Druzhba pipeline halts Russian oil supplies to EU, Ukraine reports

The Russian attack on January 27 hit the Ukrainian branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline and, according to Kyiv, temporarily halted the transit of Russian oil to Eastern Europe. This was stated by Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, who also published a photo of the burning infrastructure.

Although Naftogaz did not initially specify which facility was targeted, local authorities in the town of Brody warned of pollution after the oil products caught fire.

Paradoxically, this is the pipeline through which Russia supplies Slovakia and Hungary, even though the war has been going on for almost four years. Ukraine has stopped the transit of Russian gas, but oil transport continues.

While in the past, outages have sparked protests in Budapest and Bratislava, this time there have been no reports of supply problems.

Sybiha accused Hungary of double standards. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, in turn, said that the problem may lie in electricity supplies from Ukraine.

(reuters, pir)