Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia has been cut off since January 27th. Hungary and Slovakia blame Ukraine, while Ukraine blames a Russian drone strike. However, Ukraine has just blown up a Russian pumping station serving the Druzhba oil pipeline, which makes Ukraine look like the problem.
The Druzhba serves as the primary conduit for Russian crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia. Shipments through the pipeline have stalled since the end of January. Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine are battling over the key pipeline that supplies Russian crude to Central Europe.
The Story
While Ukraine blames a Russian drone strike for the disruption, Hungary and Slovakia slam Kyiv for the prolonged outage.
The Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline carries Russian crude through Belarus and Ukraine and into Central Europe.
The oil supply situation between Hungary and Slovakia has been complicated by a series of events involving the Druzhba pipeline. The pipeline, which carries Russian crude oil to Central Europe, has been offline since late January 2025 due to what Ukraine claims is a Russian airstrike. Slovakia and Hungary, which rely on the pipeline for oil imports, have accused Ukraine of halting oil flows for political reasons.
The situation escalated when Hungary and Slovakia halted emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine and blocked a key €90 billion loan to the country. The two countries have also sought Croatia’s help in delivering Russian oil, following disruptions to flows through Ukraine and conflicting accusations of blame.
Ukraine blew up a pumping station serving Druzhba.
The tensions have been heightened by a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian pumping station serving the Druzhba oil pipeline, which has sparked a fire and increased concerns over the security of the pipeline’s oil supply, reports Politico EU.
Hungary is considering cutting off power and gas exports to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumes Russian oil shipments. The information came from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff during a Thursday briefing.
Hungary and Slovakia are the only European Union countries with refineries still using Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. They’ve been trying to secure supply since flows were halted on Jan. 27 after what Ukraine said was a Russian drone attack that damaged pipeline infrastructure. The Druzhba carries Russian crude into Central Europe via several countries.
Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of delaying a restart of flows for political reasons. And on Wednesday, they announced a halt to diesel exports to Ukraine.
Victor Orban is a great leader for the Hungarian people and has helped that country massively by (for instance) fencing his country off to the Satanic Moslem hordes that the EU wants to force upon them. If the EU wants to commit suicide by allowing such an infestation, let them do it alone, Mr. Orban. As for Ukraine, let them… Read more »