Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on Google
Ukraine’s energy minister reports that the Druzhba oil pipeline branch in Ukraine was severely damaged by a fire following a Russian strike, halting oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia since January 27. Brussels says there’s no immediate risk to EU energy security, though tensions continue.
KYIV, March 3 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, was severely damaged by fire after a Russian attack in late January, Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal told Interfax Ukraine on Tuesday.
Oil flows through the pipeline mainly operated by Russia have been suspended since January 27 after what Kyiv said was a Russian attack on pumping facilities in western Ukraine, triggering an EU dispute and prompting Hungary to try to block new sanctions on Moscow.
"Most of the internal equipment of the oil pipeline, various sensors and other equipment inside the oil pipeline were damaged by temperature conditions," Shmyhal told news agency Interfax.
Reuters could not verify the level of damages.
Hungary has also accused Ukraine of meddling in its April elections and has blocked a 90 billion euro EU loan to Kyiv.
"This (Druzhba pipeline) damage is not visible from the outside," Shmyhal told Interfax Ukraine, adding that the repair costs and time it will take will be calculated once the defects have been examined.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is likely to discuss the Druzhba pipeline problems in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday, a European Commission spokesperson said.
Moscow has accused Kyiv of threatening Europe's energy security by stopping Russian oil flowing through the pipeline.
Transit through the route in 2025 hit a 10-year low of 9.7 million tons, Kyiv-based oil consultancy ExPro said.
ExPro said Slovakia received 4.9 million tons of oil, while shipments to Hungary were 4.35 million tons.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Yuliia Dysa; Editing by David Goodman and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
The fire was caused by a Russian attack on oil pumping installations in western Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.
Hungary and Slovakia, which receive Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, are primarily impacted.
Oil shipments have been suspended since January 27 following the reported Russian attack.
Ukraine's energy minister stated that repair costs and the time required will be calculated after damage assessment.
No, the damage is not visible from the outside, as it mostly affected internal equipment and sensors.
Explore more articles in the Finance category
