Hungary has banned a Ukrainian commander from entering the country and the Schengen zone after strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline. The move was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a Facebook video on 28 August.

Hungary frames attacks against the pipeline in Russia as a threat to its sovereignty

In his FB video, Szijjártó said Ukraine had launched several strikes against the Druzhba oil pipeline, which he called vital for his country’s energy supply, adding that Hungary considers “every single attack against our energy security as an attack committed against our sovereignty.“

“Without the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary cannot be supplied with oil,” he claimed, adding, “Ukraine knows this precisely. Ukraine is fully aware that the pipeline is indispensable for Hungary’s secure energy supply.”

The minister stated that the strikes harmed Hungary and Slovakia more than Russia, without addressing why, in the fourth year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Hungary remains fully dependent on Russian oil despite available alternatives, or that Hungary’s payments for this oil in effect bankroll Moscow’s war machine against Ukraine.

“Ukraine knows very well that the attacks against the Druzhba oil pipeline harm Hungary and, of course, Slovakia much more than Russia,” Szijjártó said.

He described the latest strike as “extremely serious,” adding that “restoration work took so long that we almost had to use strategic, or emergency, reserves.”

Ban on Ukrainian commander

Szijjártó announced that Hungary’s response would be to bar the commander of the Ukrainian unit behind the strike.

“We have therefore made the decision that the commander of the military unit which carried out the most recent extremely serious attacks against the Druzhba oil pipeline will be banned from Hungary and from the entire Schengen area,” he said. “This Ukrainian citizen will not be able to enter Hungary or the Schengen zone for the coming years.”

The Hungarian Prime Minister did not name the Ukrainian military officer targeted by the ban. The most likely candidate is Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces and an ethnic Hungarian.

He had previously claimed responsibility for the latest strike on the Druzhba pipeline, adding the 1956 Hungarian resistance slogan to his post: “Ruszkik haza!” (“Russians, go home!”).

Ukrainian long-range drones struck the Druzhba’s pumping stations on 19 and 21 August.

A Ukrainian drone strike hit Russia’s Druzhba oil pumping station in Unecha late on 21 August, setting off a major fire. Commander of the Ukrainian Forces of Unmanned Systems (SBS), Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, confirmed the attack and released footage showing flames at the site in Bryansk oblast.

Ukraine drones hit Unecha station again

Brovdi said that operators of the 14th regiment of the Forces of Unmanned Systems carried out the strike. He added the phrase “repair it in 48 hours,” mocking Russia’s attempts to restore the station after the previous hit.

Brovdi, who is ethnic Hungarian, also wrote in Hungarian “Ruszkik haza!” meaning “Russians go home.”

His post included video of the burning facility and described the drones as “birds of the SBS” continuing their “journey through worms’ refineries” — Ukraine has been targeting not oily the pumping stations, but also Russia’s oil refineries.

Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz announced a missile alert in Unecha district on 21 August. By the morning of 22 August, he claimed two fixed-wing drones had been destroyed allegedly with “no casualties or damages.” 

Unecha’s role in Druzhba pipeline

The Unecha pumping station is part of Russia’s 5,500-kilometer Druzhba oil pipeline. The station is owned by the state company Transneft and has the capacity to pump 60 million tons of oil annually. Located in the settlement of Vysokoe in Unecha district, about 60 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, it is crucial for transporting Russian oil to the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga and for supplying Belarus’s Mozyr refinery.

Previous attacks on Druzhba

The Unecha pumping station had already been struck on 12 August, when Ukrainian forces destroyed two pumping stations, a technical building, and nearby equipment. That earlier attack also caused a large fire. The latest strike marks the second hit on the same target within nine days.

On 18 August, Ukraine’s General Staff reported a strike on the Nikolskoye-1 pumping station in Russia’s Tambov oblast, another Druzhba hub. That attack forced Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó to confirm a temporary suspension of Russian oil transit to Hungary, before announcing on 20 August that deliveries had resumed. Szijjártó also claimed that Hungary is Ukraine’s largest supplier of electricity.

The Druzba pipeline, Russia’s massive oil export artery to Europe, has fully halted operations following a Ukrainian drone strike that disabled a key pumping station. As of 18 August, Ukrainian General Staff officially confirmed the pipeline’s shutdown, marking a major blow to Russia’s fuel exports—and a hard cutoff for its EU clients, including Hungary and Slovakia.

 Militarnyi reported that the attack responsible was conducted by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) overnight on 18 August. Kyiv’s precision strike disabled the Nikolskoe-1 oil station in Russia’s Tambov Oblast, 400 km from the frontline. The pipeline has now ceased pumping on an “indefinite” timeline, according to Ukrainian sources.

Ukraine disables Russia’s oil flow to the EU

The General Staff stated on 18 August that pumping of oil through the Druzba pipeline had stopped completely. The shutdown came as a result of a fire triggered by a direct drone hit on the infrastructure. 

Ukraine cuts off Putin’s pipeline profits—Europe’s Druzba oil deliveries halted after yesterday’s drone assault

SBS strike made Russian upgrades irrelevant

Commander of Ukraine’s Drone Systems Forces, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, stated that the 14th SBS regiment carried out the attack on the Nikolskoe-1 station. In a 18 August Facebook post, he confirmed the strike and mocked the outcome:

“The Druzba pipeline is resting. Full stop of oil pumping for an indefinite period. Greetings from the SBS Birds.”

Madyar also noted the station was “deflowered” by the unit’s UAVs.

Militarnyi noted that Russia had only recently upgraded safety systems at the facility, completing the latest overhaul in late July 2025. The update included new valves and modernized equipment—none of which stopped the site from going up in flames after Ukraine’s drone hit.

Budapest lashes out, Kyiv hits back

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed the disruption of oil supply in a public statement on 18 August and sharply criticized Ukraine’s actions. In response, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Hungary had long ignored Kyiv’s warnings about relying on Russian energy, and should now “file complaints with their friends in Moscow.”

Hungary, a consistent outlier in the EU on Russia policy, has maintained crude oil imports from Russia since the full-scale invasion began. The Druzba pipeline was one of its main sources of supply.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar has accused Russia of deploying its intelligence services to undermine his campaign against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Kremlin’s closest ally in the European Union. Bloomberg reports that the Kremlin’s Foreign Intelligence Service released a statement portraying Magyar as an alleged stooge of the European Commission, repeating language Orbán has used to attack him.

Kremlin statement echoes Orbán’s rhetoric

On 13 August, Russia’s spy agency published the accusations from Moscow, aligning closely with Orbán’s campaign narrative, Bloomberg reports. The next day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó backed the Russian claims, saying the statement contained “nothing new.”

Rising stakes in April’s elections

Magyar’s Tisza Party currently holds double-digit leads in public opinion polls ahead of elections scheduled for April. The race is unfolding against the backdrop of a sluggish economy and persistent allegations of corruption. Bloomberg notes that Moscow’s involvement is expected to further raise the stakes and reopen debate about Hungary’s position within NATO and the EU, which Orbán has challenged over the past decade.

Magyar warns of renewed foreign interference

In a Facebook post, Magyar drew parallels to the Soviet era, recalling the departure of Soviet troops from Hungary in the early 1990s.

“After 34 years, Russia again wants to directly meddle in Hungarian politics, again it wants to unabashedly influence the decision of Hungarian voters,” he wrote.