Ukraine has carried out another strike on the Druzhba oil pipeline, hitting the Unecha oil pumping station, Russian officials confirmed on August 21. The attack marks the latest in a series of incidents targeting the Soviet-era pipeline that delivers Russian crude to central Europe.

The Unecha facility in Bryansk region has been a repeated target. The previous strike occurred there on August 14, followed by an attack on August 18 at the Nikolskoye terminal. Despite the disruption, transit flows were restored within days. On August 20, Hungary and Slovakia announced that crude shipments via Druzhba had resumed.

Prior to that attack, supplies were temporarily suspended in an attack on the pipeline in March. Kyiv is increasingly attacking Russian oil refining and transport infrastructure inside Russia.

The campaign by Kyiv to restrict Russian oil flowing to Europe via Druzhba opened in August last year, when Kyiv imposed sanctions on Russian oil major Lukoil that sells oil to Hungary, effectively excluding it from using the Druzhba pipeline. Lukoil’s obligations were quickly taken up by other state-owned Russian oil companies, and the move was seen as Kyiv testing the waters to see how its Western allies would react to a reduction of oil supplies to the European market.

The Druzhba pipeline, one of the world’s longest oil transport systems, has supplied Russian crude to several European countries for decades, including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Operators have previously stressed that damage from drone and missile attacks has been localised, allowing flows to restart after emergency repairs.

Moscow has said the Ukrainian attacks threaten Europe’s energy security, while Kyiv argues they are a legitimate response to Russia’s ongoing war and missile attacks on Ukraine’s territory.

Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily dependent on Druzhba for oil imports, have repeatedly voiced concern over interruptions but confirmed that deliveries were back to normal this week.

Since Russia launched its missile war following a devastating missile barrage in May, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure using a new class of long-range drones in an effort to starve Russia’s military of oil products and hurt its exports.

On the night of August 21, Ukraine's Armed Forces also targeted infrastructure and production facilities at the Novoshakhtinsky Oil Products Plant in Russia's Rostov region. This marks the ninth refinery hit by Ukraine in August. Ukraine performed a strike near the fuel and lubricants depot that supplies Russian forces in the Voronezh region.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have caused a record spike in wholesale gasoline prices across Russia and led to fuel shortages in several regions. On August 20, the price of A-95 (Euro-95) gasoline on the stock exchange hit RUB82,300 ($1,023) per ton, a 55% increase from the start of the year and an 8% rise since early August.

The growing fuel crisis has been made worse by Ukrainian attacks on railway infrastructure in central Russia, which has disrupted fuel transportation. As well, these rail and air transport disruptions have caused more people to rely more heavily on cars, boosting fuel demand.

The Druzhba pipeline operates outside of the oil import ban from Russia to the EU after Central European countries, and Hungary in particular, won exemptions to the twin oil sanctions imposed at the end of 2022. Unlike most other European Union countries, Slovakia and neighbouring Hungary have kept up their dependence on Russian energy and get most of their crude through the Druzhba pipeline.

Chronology of strikes on refineries.

August 02

1. Novokuibyshevsky Refinery

2. Ryazan Refinery

August 07

3. Afipsky Refinery

August 10

4. Saratov Refinery

August 14

5. Volgograd Refinery

August 15

6. Syzran Refinery

August 21

7. Novoshakhtinsky Refinery