Russian strikes kill at least 3 in Ukraine as Hungary threatens EU sanctions veto over Druzhba pipeline
Russian drone and missile attacks overnight killed at least three people and wounded several others in Ukraine, regional officials said today, as European Union ministers clashed over a fresh package of sanctions targeting Moscow.
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In the Odesa region, two people were killed when drones struck, and three others were wounded, regional governor Oleg Kiper said. In Zaporizhzhia, a drone attack on industrial facilities killed a 33-year-old man and wounded another, according to regional chief Ivan Fedorov.
The latest strikes came as the EU’s 27 member states weighed a new round of economic penalties against Russia over its full-scale invasion. But Hungary threatened to block the package, tying its support to the reopening of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which carries Russian crude through Ukraine to Slovakia and Hungary.
Ukraine has said the segment of Druzhba crossing its territory was damaged on Jan. 27 by Russian strikes. With the line disrupted, Budapest has warned it will wield its veto unless flows resume.
“I think there is not going to be progress regarding this today, but we will definitely make this push,” said Ms. Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, at the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers. The bloc has already imposed 19 rounds of sanctions since the invasion began and is seeking to further curb the Kremlin’s revenues.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the most Russia-friendly leader in the bloc, said Budapest would veto the sanctions until Druzhba is re-opened. His government has also thrown a last-minute spanner in the works of a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine that Kyiv says is urgently needed to keep the country’s finances afloat.
The hard line from Budapest drew swift rebukes from several EU capitals. “I am astonished by the Hungarian position. We will discuss this with our Hungarian colleagues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. “I am also confident that, at the end of the day, we will be successful,” he added.
Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said “there is no actually reason to block” the sanctions because the pipeline closure was Russia’s fault, not Ukraine’s. “If we are not able to put the sanctions on Russia, then Russia will be happy,” he said. Poland’s top diplomat, Radosław Sikorski, called the Hungarian stance “shocking.”
Brussels has proposed banning shipping services for Russian crude oil as part of the latest measures, seeking to tighten enforcement and limit workarounds that have helped sustain Moscow’s oil revenues despite previous curbs.
Hungary has repeatedly stalled EU decisions on Ukraine during the four-year war, and Orbán’s latest move comes as he faces an election this April. The impasse over sanctions and financing underscored the political strains within the EU even as the human toll of the war mounted with the overnight attacks in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
