The Russian Ministry of Defense accused, Wednesday, June 7, “a Ukrainian sabotage group” of having dynamited an ammonia pipe which was no longer supplied but which Moscow hoped would be put back into service.
The explosion occurred Monday evening near Massioutovka, a village in the hands of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region (northeastern Ukraine), according to the ministry. “Several civilians were injured. We brought them all the necessary medical assistance.”he said in a press release.
The pipeline, which connects the Russian city of Togliatti, on the banks of the Volga, with Odessa, the most important Ukrainian port on the Black Sea, allowed Russia to export more than 2.5 million tons of ammonia, an essential component of mineral fertilisers, particularly for the European Union.
no danger
It was commissioned to export the products of the Togliatti Chemical Enterprise, Russia’s largest ammonia producer and one of the largest in the world. Built in the late 1970s, it has not been powered since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
On the Ukrainian side, Oleg Sinegoubov, head of the military administration of the Kharkiv region, had attributed its destruction to Russia. “People’s lives and health are currently not in danger”he had assured.
The resumption of supply of the pipeline, which is the longest in the world at 2,400 kilometers, is part of the negotiations on the agreement reached under the aegis of the United Nations which allowed the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian cereals.
“This ammonia pipeline was crucial to ensuring food security around the world”said Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, accusing Ukraine of having “dealed a severe blow to the efforts of the UN in the fight against hunger”. “The only one who had no interest in the ammonia pipeline resuming work was the kyiv regime”she said.
The cereals agreement signed on July 22, 2022 by the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey was renewed in May until July 17.