Why is Orbán blackmailing Ukraine and demanding specifically the Druzhba pipeline with Russian oil
On the night of 27 January 2026, Russia struck the linear production and dispatch station (LPDS) of Ukrtransnafta in Brody with a drone – the main oil pumping station on the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
A large-scale fire broke out after the strike. The burning of crude oil in the largest tank, with a capacity of 75,000 cubic meters, lasted ten days. This was an attack on the "control and pumping hub," which led to the shutdown of the station and, accordingly, the suspension of Russian oil transit.
Read more about why Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants specifically Russian oil and specifically via the Druzhba pipeline in the column by Mykhailo Honchar of the Strategy XXI Globalistics Center: The end of Druzhba: what lies behind the threats of Orbán and Fico and what mistake Ukraine made.
The author notes that as early as last year, Russia added Ukraine’s oil extraction and transportation facilities (those within the system of Naftogaz of Ukraine) to its list of priority targets in the country’s energy infrastructure.
After the final destruction of the Kremenchuk oil refinery in June 2025, oil produced in Ukraine by Ukrnafta was redirected for export via Druzhba, through the Brody LPDS.
"Unlike the operator of the unified energy system, Ukrenergo, where since the time of Volodymyr Kudrytskyi’s leadership engineering protection of key facilities had been addressed, nothing of the sort was done within the Naftogaz structure. It seems that former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov had other priorities," the president of the Strategy XXI Globalistics Center suggests.
According to him, despite the possibility of purchasing oil at market prices from other suppliers, Orbán wants specifically Russian oil and specifically via Druzhba.
The pipeline running through Ukraine allows Orbán to receive Russian oil "at a special price for the Kremlin’s servants." Transporting this oil by sea via Croatia would "eat up" almost the entire discount granted by Putin.
"And Orbán has elections already in April. Fico also feels insecure under pressure from the opposition. Hence the old records from Budapest and Bratislava, conducted from Moscow – 'Ukraine is to blame for everything,' 'Ukraine has interrupted transit,'" the author writes.
At present, the Kremlin’s allies in Europe are attacking Ukraine rhetorically, while Kyiv remains silent.
"It remains silent because, probably, someone is both 'in the know and in on the deal,'" the expert suggests.
In Mykhailo Honchar’s view, the position of the European Commission regarding the restoration of transit via Druzhba "is foolish and disgraceful."
He believes this is because Kyiv did not officially notify about the emergency situation, while in Budapest and Bratislava, under Moscow’s supervision, no time was wasted.
He points out that, under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Kyiv was supposed to notify about the strike on Druzhba’s oil transport infrastructure: "A Party shall not be held liable for interruption or reduction of supply under this Article if it is unable to supply energy goods as a result of actions related to a third country..."
As for the threat by Orbán and Fico to halt supplies of diesel fuel and electricity to Ukraine. This has happened before, the president of the Strategy XXI Globalistics Center recalls. He suggests that diesel may already no longer be supplied, "but this does not pose a problem for us."