By Pavel Polityuk, Anita Komuves and Vera Dvorakova
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia could be suspended for at least five days following the latest Ukrainian strike on a facility in Russia, the Hungarian and Slovakian governments said on Friday, in a widening of the fallout of the Ukraine war.
Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure over the past few weeks despite a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to reach a deal to end the conflict, which is now in its fourth year.
The European Union reduced energy supplies from Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is seeking to phase out Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.
EU members Slovakia and Hungary are opposed to the phase-out, saying their economies depend on the Russian supplies. The two countries have also opposed to sanctions against Russia that Ukraine says are vital to push Moscow towards a viable peace.
The Hungarian and Slovak governments wrote to Europe’s executive Commission on Friday saying that the latest Ukrainian attack could leave them without Russian oil imports for at least five days, urging it to guarantee the security of supplies.
“The physical and geographical reality is that without this pipeline, the safe supply of our countries is simply not possible,” Foreign Ministers Peter Szijjarto and Juraj Blanar said in a letter.
The Ukrainian strike on Thursday night marked the second time this week that Russian oil supplies have been cut to Hungary and Slovakia, after a halt on Monday and Tuesday.
Ukraine’s military said late on Thursday it had again struck the Unecha oil pumping station, a critical part of Russia’s Europe-bound Druzhba oil pipeline, the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces said late on Thursday.
A Russian industry source also said the supplies could be halted for a few days. The Russian energy ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, hitting preparations for winter heating for the population and fuel for key industries in attacks it says are aimed at degrading its military. Ukraine has damaged several Russian refineries, aiming to disrupt Russian energy exports financing Russia’s invasion and create fuel shortages in a number of Russian regions.
GERMANY SAYS KAZAKH OIL SUPPLY UNAFFECTED
The Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Ukraine, ships oil from Kazakhstan to Germany as well as from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia. Germany said its supplies of Kazakh oil were unaffected by the latest strike.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said his government learned on Thursday evening of the attack.
“This is another attack against our energy security,” Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.
Slovak pipeline operator Transpetrol confirmed the interruption in an emailed statement.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, posted a video on Telegram messenger showing a large fire at a facility with numerous fuel tanks. Reuters could not confirm the location of the infrastructure in the video.
Russian regional governor Alexander Bogomaz, whose Bryansk region borders both Ukraine and Belarus in the far west of Russia, said on Friday that an energy facility at Unecha had caught fire as a result of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, adding that the blaze has been extinguished.
“As a result of repelling a combined attack carried out by HIMARS MLRS missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, a fire broke out at a fuel infrastructure facility in the Unecha district,” Bogomaz said on Telegram.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, Anita Komuves in Budapest, Vera Dvorakova in Gdansk and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; editing by Mark Potter, David Goodman, Mark Heinrich, Philippa Fletcher)
