Ukraine hit the pumping station of the Drujba oil pipeline in the Russian region of Briansk, August 21, 2025. PHOTO: social media / WillWest News / Profimedia
Repair work on the Drujba pipeline, which carries Russian oil to Eastern Europe, cannot be completed quickly, despite requests from the European Union and protests from Hungary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been halted since January 27, when Kiev said a Russian attack had hit pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged blackout.
“First of all, it's not that fast,” Zelenskiy told reporters, adding that Russian strikes had destroyed the pipeline linking the Black Sea port of Odessa to Drujba. “This is not their first attack and they continue to hit the energy sector,” he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, during a visit to Kiev that marked four years since the start of the Russian invasion, that the EU had asked Ukraine to speed up repairs.
“They advise us to fix it, but they know that there have already been attacks on Drujba,” Zelenskiy said. “Our people were hurt to make it work,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Orban's accusations
Despite the war, Ukraine has continued to transport Russian oil through pipelines on its territory, although it halted the transit of Russian gas early last year.
Budapest has accused Kiev of deliberately delaying the restart of the pipeline, the main delivery route for Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia since the 1960s.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that the suspension of supplies was purely “political” and that Ukraine was “preparing other actions”.
“The Ukrainian government is putting pressure on Hungary and Slovakia by blocking oil,” he said. Ukraine did not immediately respond to the Hungarian prime minister's comments.
Hungary accuses Ukraine of plotting actions to affect its energy system. Viktor Orban, order to deploy soldiers to key facilities
Ukrainian publication Evropeiska Pravda wrote that Ukraine sent a letter to an EU meeting on oil issues in which Kiev said Russian military action had put the pipeline out of service and rejected “ultimatums and political pressure”.
“Russia bears full responsibility for the disruption of oil shipments through the Drujba pipeline as a result of its terrorist attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure,” the letter states.
“We draw your attention to the unacceptability of ultimatums and political pressure from certain member states…” Kyiv continued.
Orban has long been at odds with the EU over Ukraine, among many other issues. In defiance of Brussels, he has maintained cordial relations with Moscow, refuses to send weapons to Ukraine and says Kiev should never join the 27-nation bloc.
Attacks on Naftogaz
In recent months, Russia has sharply stepped up its attacks on Ukraine's power plants and gas sector, causing acute power shortages, depriving it of nearly half of its gas production capacity and forcing it to increase imports from Europe.
Some of this comes from Hungary and Slovakia, which have threatened to halt emergency electricity exports to Ukraine over the Drujba pipeline dispute.
At the request of US President Donald Trump, Russia agreed to a short-term pause in the strikes earlier this month.
“The Hungarians should appeal to the Russians to grant an energy truce,” Zelenski said.
Kiev has repeatedly attacked Russian oil facilities, including the section of the Drujba pipeline that crosses Russian territory, but has also proposed an energy truce to Moscow.
On Wednesday, Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz said 60 Russian drones attacked its facilities in the north and east of the country.
“For two days, attacks on gas storage facilities and production facilities in Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions continued unabated,” Naftogaz said in a statement.
