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Russia and Ukraine Say Ammonia Pipeline Was Damaged, in Potential Blow to Grain Deal

Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Russia and Ukraine Say Ammonia Pipeline Was Damaged, in Potential Blow to Grain Deal

Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

A pipeline used to transport ammonia fertilizer from Russia via Ukraine which may be central to the future of the Black Sea grain deal has been damaged, according to both Kyiv and Moscow, potentially complicating talks around the accord.

Russia's defense ministry said a "Ukrainian sabotage group" had blown up a section of the pipeline on Monday night near the village of Masyutivka in Kharkiv region. The village is on the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

"As a result of this terrorist act, there were civilian casualties. They have been provided with necessary medical assistance," the Russian ministry said in a statement.

"At present ammonia residues are being blown out of the damaged sections of the pipeline from Ukrainian territory. There are no casualties among Russian servicemen."

Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region gave a different version of events. He said in a statement posted on Telegram that Russian troops had shelled the pipeline.

Six Russian shells had landed near a pumping station near Masyutivka at around 5.45 pm (1445 GMT) on Tuesday, nearly 24 hours after Moscow alleged Ukraine had blown up the same pipeline, he said.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian and Ukrainian assertions.

Resumption of supplies via the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, the world's longest ammonia pipeline, may be key to the renewal of the Black Sea grain export deal. The pipeline has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it called a "special military operation".

Russia has repeatedly cast doubt on whether it will continue to renew the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye, which facilitates agricultural exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea.

Among the conditions for renewal that Moscow has put forward is resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline.

Moscow has said it will limit the number of ships allowed to travel to Ukraine's Pivdennyi port near Odesa under the deal until the pipeline is restarted.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it would take between one and three months to repair the damaged section of the pipeline.

"The ammonia pipeline was one of the linchpins of the implementation of the agreements made in Istanbul on July 22. The (pipeline) was key to global food security," Zakharova said.

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Russia’s Putin Apologizes to Azerbaijan over ‘Tragic’ Airliner Crash

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow on December 28, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow on December 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Russia’s Putin Apologizes to Azerbaijan over ‘Tragic’ Airliner Crash

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow on December 28, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow on December 28, 2024. (AFP)

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan's leader for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident" over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defenses were fired against Ukrainian drones.

The extremely rare publicized apology from Putin was the closest Moscow had come to accepting some blame for Wednesday's disaster, although the Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane, only noting that a criminal case had been opened.

Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to the Chechen capital Grozny, crash-landed on Wednesday near Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defenses had mistakenly shot the airliner down. Passengers said they heard a loud bang outside the plane.

Putin called President Ilham Aliyev and "apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured," the Kremlin said.

"At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks."

The Kremlin said "civilian and military specialists" were being questioned.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said he had called Aliyev to offer condolences, and in his statement on the X platform demanded that Russia provide "clear explanations".

OBJECTS SMASHED THROUGH AIRPLANE'S FUSELAGE

Azerbaijan for its part said Aliyev had noted to Putin that the plane had been "subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control and redirection to the Kazakh city of Aktau".

Until Saturday, Russia's last working day before a long New Year holiday, the Kremlin had said it was improper to comment on the incident before official investigations were concluded.

The Embraer jet had flown from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia's southern Chechnya region, where the incident occurred, and then travelled, badly damaged, another 280 miles (450 km) across the Caspian Sea.

Footage shot by passengers before the plane crashed showed oxygen masks down and people wearing life jackets. Later videos showed bloodied and bruised passengers climbing out of the wreckage. There were 29 survivors.

Baku cited injuries from objects that had penetrated the aircraft’s fuselage from outside and testimonies from survivors as evidence of "external physical and technical interference".

The crash underscored the risks to civil aviation even when aircraft are flying hundreds of miles from a war zone, especially when Ukraine has deployed drones en masse to try to hit back at Russia behind the front lines .

Russia uses electronic jamming to confuse the geolocation and communication systems of Ukrainian drones, which it also targets with air defense systems.

In 2020, Iranian Revolutionary Guards mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 on board.

And in 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, with the loss of 298 passengers and crew, by what Dutch investigators said was a Russian BUK missile system. Russia denied involvement.