BUDAPEST/BRATISLAVA — Hungary and Slovakia sounded the alarm Friday over possible energy disruptions after a Ukrainian strike hit a key Russian oil facility, threatening to halt crude deliveries for several days, reported by Al Jazeera News.
The attack targeted the Unecha oil pumping station in western Russia, a vital hub on the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian crude through Belarus and Ukraine to Central Europe. Officials from Budapest and Bratislava warned the strike could cut flows for at least five days, raising concerns of fuel shortages.
In a joint letter to the European Commission, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar urged Brussels to ensure secure energy supplies. “The physical and geographical reality is that without this pipeline, the safe supply of our countries is simply not possible,” they wrote.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban escalated the issue politically, releasing correspondence with U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he criticized Ukraine’s timing of the strike—just days before Trump’s August 15 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. A copy posted online appeared to show Trump’s handwritten response: “Viktor, I do not like hearing this, I am very angry about it.” The White House has not commented.
Ukraine’s military confirmed the strike, calling Unecha a critical node in Russia’s export system. Videos shared by Ukrainian commanders showed flames at an oil depot, though the footage could not be independently verified. Russian officials later said the fire was contained but acknowledged deliveries may be disrupted for days.
While Germany and Kazakhstan reported no interruptions, Hungary and Slovakia remain heavily dependent on Russian energy, despite EU commitments to phase out Moscow’s oil by 2027. “This is another attack against our energy security,” Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.
