Hungarian anger after Ukrainian attack on Russia: “Do not attack our energy infrastructure”

Ukraine carried out a comprehensive drone attack on Russia overnight to Tuesday. The attack, among other things, knocked out the oil pipeline to Hungary, which has sparked Hungarian irritation.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, a total of 343 Ukrainian drones were neutralized in Russian airspace during the night, either by being shot down or electronically disrupted. It is unclear how many drones were not successfully shot down.

More than 70 of the drones reached Moscow, and according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, this is the “most massive drone attack” on the Russian capital to date. In Russia, the attack is classified as an act of terrorism, and it is alleged that the drones indiscriminately targeted civilian targets. Several people are also reported to have been killed and injured.

Knocked out oil pipeline

Among other things, the Ukrainian drone attack knocked out the Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline – the oil pipeline that runs from Russia, through Ukraine, to, among other places, Slovakia and Hungary. This is something that irritates the neighboring EU country in the west.

– During the night, a measuring station on the Friendship oil pipeline was subjected to a Ukrainian drone attack. The Friendship oil pipeline is critically important for our country’s oil deliveries. If it does not function, it becomes practically impossible to deliver oil to Hungary and Slovakia, says Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó in a video that he uploaded to Facebook.

Szijjártó is on a plane on his way to Stuttgart, Germany, when he records the video. He tells that he has spoken with the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy about the situation, that repair work is ongoing, and that the situation will hopefully be resolved by Wednesday night.

– We consider these attacks on Hungary’s energy infrastructure unacceptable. We have expressed this stance several times in Brussels, and the European Commission has guaranteed that no attacks will be directed at Hungary’s energy infrastructure, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs continues in the video.

– Unfortunately, this is already the third time that the European Commission’s guarantee has been broken. We urge Ukraine not to attack Hungary’s energy infrastructure. Hungary bears no responsibility for the war between Russia and Ukraine, we have so far stayed out of this war, and we want to continue to stay out of it.