MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones struck a key pumping station at a major international pipeline in southern Russia disrupting supplies from Kazakhstan, the operator said Monday.
Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict, seeking to hit sites it says supply fuel to Moscow’s army or heps provide funds to support its offensive.
In the latest attack overnight, seven explosive-packed drones hit a pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which carries Kazakh oil across southern Russia for export via the Black Sea, including to western Europe.
“Oil transportation through the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system is carried out at reduced pumping modes,” it said on social media.
The 1,500-kilometer pipeline is owned by a consortium in which the Russian and Kazakh governments as well as Western energy majors Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell hold stakes.
In 2024 it loaded more than 63 million tonnes of oil onto tankers at a terminal at the southern Russian port of Novorossiysk, the company said.
The company said the attack hit the Kropotkinskaya pumping station — the pipeline’s largest in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
Nobody was wounded and staff prevented the attack causing an oil spill, it added.
Both Moscow and Kyiv launched massive drone attacks in an overnight wave, days after US President Donald Trump called the leaders of both countries to press for a ceasefire.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 83 out of 147 drones that Russia launched overnight, adding another 59 were “lost” without causing damage.
Russia’s defense ministry said it had “intercepted and destroyed” 90 Ukrainian drones, including 24 over the southern region of Krasnodar, where the Caspian Pipeline Consortium runs.
Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo announced emergency outages in some regions of Ukraine “due to the consequences of Russian attacks on energy facilities.”
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Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia
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Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia
- Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict
De-escalate in Ethiopia’s Tigray before ‘too late’: UN rights chief
- The United Nations rights chief called Tuesday on all parties in the conflicts in Ethiopia to urgently de-escalate amid a precarious situation in the Tigray region
GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief called Tuesday on all parties in the conflicts in Ethiopia to urgently de-escalate amid a precarious situation in the Tigray region.
Recent clashes between the Ethiopian army and regional forces in Tigray highlight the risk of a return to full conflict and a deepening of the human rights crisis in the northern region, Volker Turk warned.
“The situation remains highly volatile, and we fear it will further deteriorate, worsening the region’s already precarious human rights and humanitarian situation,” he said in a statement.
“There must be concerted and sustained efforts by all parties, with the help of the international community, to de-escalate tensions before it is too late.”
The UN rights chief insisted “political dialogue and confidence-building measures are urgently needed — not renewed resort to armed violence.”
The renewed tensions risk a return to conflict following a war between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that the African Union says killed at least 600,000 people before it ended in late 2022.
More than one million civilians remain internally displaced since the civil war, the UN rights office said.
It voiced deep concern over hostilities that intensified late last month between the Ethiopian military and the regional Tigray Security Forces (TSF) in Tsemlet, western Tigray, an area claimed by forces from the neighboring Amhara region.
The TSF withdrew from the area on February 1.
The rights office highlighted that drones, artillery and other powerful weapons were used by both sides, and both sides engaged in arrests and detentions, Turk saying these activities “must stop.”
In the south and southeast of the Tigray region, near the Afar border, clashes are also continuing between the TSF and rival faction the Tigray Peace Forces.
“Both sides must step back from the brink and work to resolve their differences through political means,” Turk said.
He demanded that all allegations of serious violations and abuses “be promptly and independently investigated, irrespective of the perpetrators.”
Recent clashes between the Ethiopian army and regional forces in Tigray highlight the risk of a return to full conflict and a deepening of the human rights crisis in the northern region, Volker Turk warned.
“The situation remains highly volatile, and we fear it will further deteriorate, worsening the region’s already precarious human rights and humanitarian situation,” he said in a statement.
“There must be concerted and sustained efforts by all parties, with the help of the international community, to de-escalate tensions before it is too late.”
The UN rights chief insisted “political dialogue and confidence-building measures are urgently needed — not renewed resort to armed violence.”
The renewed tensions risk a return to conflict following a war between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that the African Union says killed at least 600,000 people before it ended in late 2022.
More than one million civilians remain internally displaced since the civil war, the UN rights office said.
It voiced deep concern over hostilities that intensified late last month between the Ethiopian military and the regional Tigray Security Forces (TSF) in Tsemlet, western Tigray, an area claimed by forces from the neighboring Amhara region.
The TSF withdrew from the area on February 1.
The rights office highlighted that drones, artillery and other powerful weapons were used by both sides, and both sides engaged in arrests and detentions, Turk saying these activities “must stop.”
In the south and southeast of the Tigray region, near the Afar border, clashes are also continuing between the TSF and rival faction the Tigray Peace Forces.
“Both sides must step back from the brink and work to resolve their differences through political means,” Turk said.
He demanded that all allegations of serious violations and abuses “be promptly and independently investigated, irrespective of the perpetrators.”
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