Ukraine-Russia War File The Russian Defense Ministry says a “Ukrainian sabotage group” blew up the world’s longest ammonia pipeline on Monday night.
Russia on Wednesday, June 7, accused Kiev of blowing up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, the world’s longest, and condemned a “terrorist attack” that left several civilians injured. “A Ukrainian sabotage group blew up the approximately 2,400-kilometer Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline connecting a Russian city on the banks of the Volga River with the Ukrainian port on the Black Sea,” the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement.
According to the same source, this “terrorist attack” happened on Monday evening near Massyutovka, a small village in the Kharkiv region (northeast Ukraine) that was almost completely recaptured from the Ukrainian army by Russian forces in the fall of 2022. “Several civilians were injured. We brought them all the necessary medical assistance,” the statement said.
Most notably, the pipeline connecting the Russian city of Tolyatti on the banks of the Volga with Odessa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, has allowed Russia to transport more than 2.5 million tons of ammonia – a key ingredient in mineral fertilizers for the European Union.
Transit through this pipeline was halted with the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. The restart of operations demanded by Moscow is part of negotiations involving the United Nations on the Grains Agreement, which enabled the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain.