Ukraine has now attacked for the third time a Russian oil pipeline that supplies multiple European nations. The attacks angered President Donald Trump after he received a note from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The Ukrainians hit the Druzhba (“Friendship”) II oil pipeline, which stretches for about 2,500 miles. The latest attack struck the Unecha oil pumping station in Russia on Thursday night. The Soviet-era conduit is considered among the longest in the world. The pipeline delivers Russian oil through Ukraine before heading to Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, according to reports. Druzhba I supplied Germany and Poland, but that was halted after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Germany still buys Russian energy, but only after being laundered through other European nations.
Trump “Very Angry”
Trump was not happy to hear the news. He received a note from Orbán via the prime minister’s political director, Balazs Orbán (no relation). The note said:
Five days ago, just before the historic meeting between President Trump and Putin in Alaska, Ukraine carried out drone strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia. This pipeline supplies Hungary and Slovakia, two countries that have no other means of importing crude oil. Hungary supports Ukraine with electricity and petrol, in return they bomb pipeline that supply us. Very unfriendly move! We wish President Trump every success in his pursuit for peace!
Trump responded to Orbán with a handwritten note of his own:
Victor — I do not like hearing this — I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia you are my great friend —Donald.
Balazs Orbán posted the exchange on his X account.
The Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine carried out the attack. The unit is led by Robert Magyar Brovdi, an ethnic Hungarian who, reportedly, is not a fan of Viktor Orbán. He admitted to his role in the attack in an August 18 social-media post. He wrote:
The Druzhba oil pipeline is taking a break. Full stop of oil pumping for an indefinite period. Greetings from the USF Birds. The Nikolskoye pumping station (Tambov region, Russia) has been deflowered by the Birds of the 14th Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Force.
Hungarian Reaction
But Hungary didn’t share Brovdi’s glee. Budapest’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade responded:
For 3.5 years Brussels and Kyiv have tried to drag Hungary into the war in Ukraine. These repeated Ukrainian attacks on our energy supply serve that same purpose. Let me be clear: this is not our war. We have nothing to do with it, and as long as we are in charge, Hungary will stay out of it.
Ukraine, however, had little sympathy. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded:
It is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it. Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner. Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia. Even after the full-scale war began. You can now send your complaints — and threats — to your friends in Moscow.
Ukraine is not happy with Hungary because it continues buying oil from Russia. Energy is Russia’s top revenue generator and, in the eyes of the Ukrainians, Budapest is not doing its part in the war against Russia. Hungary, a landlocked nation with limited natural resources, has also blocked tougher EU sanctions on Russian oil, maintaining that it needs cheap energy. Hungary has said that Druzhba is Hungary’s lifeline and has even threatened to cut electricity sales to Ukraine if the pipeline stops delivering oil.
Consequences for Ukraine?
Speaking of European alliances, some commentators have posed the question of whether Ukraine — not a member of the European Union or NATO — will suffer consequences for attacking the national interests of nations that are EU and NATO members.
The Hungarians and Slovaks have issued a formal complaint along these lines to the European Commission. On Friday, Hungarian and Slovak foreign ministers wrote a letter to the European Commission calling for EU action against Ukraine. Commenting on the letter, Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó said:
The Druzhba pipeline is indispensable for our energy supply. Without it, providing oil to our countries is physically impossible. Such attacks are a direct and unacceptable assault on our energy security. Back in January the @EU_Commission pledged in writing to act against such attacks. Yet after all three strikes it has remained silent, taking no steps to defend the energy supply of member states. Brussels must understand: they are the EUROPEAN Commission, not the Ukrainian Commission!
