Ukraine struck a key Russian oil facility overnight “with US missiles” amid growing petrol queues and soaring prices in Vladimir Putin’s country. It was the second strike in a week on the Druzhba oil pipeline to Europe, and footage showed it in flames.
Two US-supplied HIMARS missiles were used, according to Russian reports. Other reports said drones were involved in the attack. The Ukrainians hit a vital pumping station on the pipeline at Unecha, Bryansk region, disrupting oil exports to Hungary and Slovakia, seen as the two most pro-Putin states in the EU and NATO.
Oil supplies have continued despite Putin’s war with Ukraine, and are a key foreign currency earner for the Kremlin.
Drones hit the Unecha earlier this week, but after a pause in supplies, the flow was restored. It was the fourth strike this month.
This time, Ukraine used HIMARS missiles to cause greater damage, according to unconfirmed Russian sources.
The latest strike comes amid evidence that recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries are biting Putin’s economy.
A 13% decline in refining capacity has hit Putin during August, reported The Moscow Times.
Wholesale prices are at record highs for two days in a row.
Footage shows queues – some almost a mile long – at filling stations in the Primorsky region.
Train delays after Ukrainian drone strikes on the railway have also hit the movement of oil.
Strikes earlier this week by Ukraine on a refinery at Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region, a key supplier to the Russian war machine, led to an inferno which today was still burning out of control.
Footage also showed a fuel train struck by a Ukrainian attack in Dzhankoy, in occupied Crimea.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said complained of an attack on his country’s energy security.
It was also “another attempt to drag us into the war. It will not work.
“We will continue to support peace efforts with all our might and protect our national interests.”