Ukrainian attacks halt Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia
The successful drone strike hit overnight the Nikolskoye oil pumping station in the Tambov region, approximately 400 km east of the Ukrainian border, according to the Kyiv Independent, temporarily halting oil deliveries.
The interruption follows another short halt in deliveries last week after a Ukrainian drone attack on a pumping station in the Bryansk region.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó bemoaned the attack on social media, saying "this is not our war... we want to stay out of it." In Slovakia, national operator Transpetrol confirmed flows into Slovakia had also stopped, stressing the problem lay outside its territory.
Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková said the outage was the second in a week, caused by damage to a transformer station in Russia. She insisted Slovakia's fuel supply was not at risk and expected deliveries to resume in the coming days.
Slovnaft, the Slovak refinery part of Hungary's MOL group, also said production had not been halted and that it was relying on reserves. 'The supply of fuel remains secure,' said spokesperson Lucia Čorbová.
Slovakia's former Economy Minister Karel Hirman, now in opposition, said: 'Only a naïve person could believe that during wartime – especially when the supplier of raw materials is attacking the transit country – supplies would not be disrupted.'
Hirman pointed out that almost all of Slovakia's neighbours – Austria, Czechia, and Poland – recognised these risks and have already replaced Russian energy supplies.
Hungary and Slovakia are the only two EU countries still buying Russian oil.
European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrnčířová said that the executive is in touch with Slovakian and Hungarian authorities and that the suspension 'does not affect the security of supply."
UPDATE: The article now includes the Commission's comment.
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