Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto confirmed on August 18 that Moscow had informed Budapest that a key transformer station on the Druzhba oil pipeline had been attacked and severely damaged. Currently, Russian experts are urgently working to fix it. The pipeline, which stretches more than 4,000km, carries oil from Russia via Kazakhstan to refineries in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
This is a blatant and unacceptable blow to our energy security, Szijjarto wrote on social media X. He stressed: This conflict is not our war. When the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban is still in power, Hungary will not participate.
The foreign minister also admitted that it is unclear when oil resources through Druzhba can be restored.
Druzhba is considered the "blood" of Eastern Europe's energy, transporting crude oil from Russia and Kazakhstan to many EU countries. During the conflict, the system was repeatedly targeted. Just last week, Kiev confirmed that it had used drones to attack a distribution station in the Bryansk region (Russia).
In addition to Druzhba, Ukraine has also targeted the TurkStream gas pipeline - the route leading Russian gas to Turkey and many other Balkan countries, including Hungary.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused this of being evidence that Kiev has no limits to his dangerous actions.
On Telegram, Zakharova wrote: "Since the coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014, we have warned the West that Kiev will never stop." She stressed that Ukraine has repeatedly been involved in terrorist activities in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and even the trafficking of weapons in black markets in Europe.
Moscow has previously repeatedly accused Kiev of being behind terrorist attacks, including the Crocus City Hall attack on Moscow's outskirts in March 2024, which killed 149 people and injured 600.
Unlike most European countries, Hungary has remained neutral since the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in 2022. Hungary has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine, called for dialogue and repeatedly criticized Western sanctions against Russia as counterproductive.
However, the Druzhba pipeline hit Hungary - which is heavily dependent on Russian oil - and put it under a direct threat to energy security. Foreign Minister Szijjarto hinted that the attack could be an attempt to lure Budapest, outside the war, into a spiral of conflict.
The airstrike occurred right before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's arrival in the US and during talks with President Donald Trump and European leaders.
