War in Ukraine: Moscow and Kiev accuse each other of blowing up an ammonia pipeline

Moscow and Kiev accuse each other of damaging the world's longest ammonia pipeline. Russia claimed on Wednesday that a "Ukrainian sabotage group" had blown up Monday night the infrastructure linking the Russian city of Togliatti to the Ukrainian port of Odessa, about 2,400 km long.

This "terrorist act", according to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, took place near Massyutovka, a small village in the Kharkiv region (northeastern Ukraine), almost all of which had been retaken by the Ukrainian army from Russian forces in autumn 2022, according to the same source.

"Several civilians were injured. We provided them with all the necessary medical assistance," the statement said.

Suspended transit

The pipeline allowed Russia to transport more than 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia - a key component of mineral fertilisers - to the European Union. It was put into operation to export the products of the Togliatti chemical enterprise, the largest Russian producer of ammonia and one of the largest in the world.

Transit through this pipeline was suspended with the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. The resumption of the operation of this pipeline, requested by Moscow, is part of the negotiations, with the participation of the UN, on the grain agreement that allowed the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain. "This ammonia pipeline was crucial to ensure food security in the world," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Kiev, for its part, accused the "enemy" of firing on the infrastructure. The governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov announced on Wednesday on his Telegram channel that, for the second time in two days, the pipeline had been bombed. "At present, the results of the measurements show that there is no ammonia in the air in the Kupyansk district," he said.