Massive Fire Erupts After Ukraine Strikes Russian Oil Facility — Here’s What We Know

Ukraine has said it struck a key hub in Russia’s crude-exporting pipeline network. However, reports said oil flow through it to Europe appear unaffected for now.

In a social media post, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed its forces attacked an oil-pumping station in Unecha, in Russia’s Bryansk region near the borders with Ukraine and Belarus. Reports said that the attack resulted in damage and sparked a large fire. Explosions were heard in the storage zone and at locations housing the main and auxiliary pumps, according to the statement.

Russia Tight-Lipped About the Attack

The claims could not be independently verified. Russia’s state oil-pipeline operator, Transneft PJSC, refused to comment anything on the issue.

The Unecha strike comes amid a surge in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure this month, ahead of a scheduled meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Earlier in August, Ukraine hit four Russian refineries, disrupting operations at three Rosneft PJSC plants. On Tuesday, Kyiv reported an attack on a key helium facility in Russia.

Unecha is a critical node in the Druzhba pipeline network, which delivers Russian crude to Hungary and Slovakia and also moves Kazakh oil to Germany. It is also part of the Baltic Pipeline System-2, which transports Russian crude to the port of Ust-Luga, the country’s second-biggest oil export terminal on the Baltic Sea.

No Disruption Reported in Oil Flow Through Pipeline

Hungarian oil refiner Mol Nyrt. told local media that crude deliveries remain on schedule. The country’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, condemned the attack in a Facebook post. Slovakia’s pipeline operator, Transpetrol, said it had received no requests to alter the current monthly crude delivery schedule via Druzhba. Kazakhstan’s energy ministry confirmed that oil flows through Transneft’s system are continuing without restrictions.

Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian rockets and drones had caused a fire at a fuel infrastructure site in Unecha. He said the blaze had been extinguished but gave no details on the scale of the damage.

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