Crude oil shipments from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia were temporarily stopped on Tuesday after the pipeline that carries them was attacked by Ukrainian drones.
Hungary and Slovakia each buy approximately 80 percent of their energy resources from Russia and have received a special exemption from the European Union’s sanctions to do so. Oil is sent to the two countries via the Druzhba, or “Freedom,” pipeline, which is one of the longest in the world (approximately 4,000 kilometers, or 2,500 miles).
Ukraine’s General Staff released a statement in which they acknowledged that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had struck an oil refinery near Moscow as well as a metering station attached to the Druzhba pipeline in the Oryol region. The attacks were part of a larger drone assault on the Moscow region, which Russia has said was the biggest Ukrainian drone attack on its soil to date.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Foreign Minister, reported on his social media in the afternoon that the damage had been repaired and that oil shipments to Hungary had resumed, according to Magyar Nemzet. Slovakia’s supplies were expected to resume by evening.
Szijjártó said that Ukraine’s attacks were unacceptable and that the security of Hungary’s energy supply is a matter of national sovereignty. He further stated that the attacks were a violation of a guarantee made to Hungary by the European Commission, which had said that it had obtained a promise from Kyiv not to attack infrastructure carrying Russian energy resources to Europe. In exchange, Hungary would continue to support sanctions on Russia issued by Brussels.
“The sooner there is peace, the sooner these attacks will stop,” Szijjártó added.
Russia’s oil and natural gas used to transit through pipelines crossing Ukraine, which continued even after hostilities between the two countries began in February 2022. Kyiv ordered a halt to all Russian energy resource shipments across its territory on Jan. 1 of this year. Most European nations that are customers of Russian energy had already found alternate routes for their supplies.
