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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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India, Pakistan Exchange Small Arms Fire across Kashmir Border for Fourth Night

Farmers work near the India-Pakistan border fencing, pictured from the Indian side in Daoke village, about 45 km from Amritsar, on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)
Farmers work near the India-Pakistan border fencing, pictured from the Indian side in Daoke village, about 45 km from Amritsar, on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)
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India, Pakistan Exchange Small Arms Fire across Kashmir Border for Fourth Night

Farmers work near the India-Pakistan border fencing, pictured from the Indian side in Daoke village, about 45 km from Amritsar, on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)
Farmers work near the India-Pakistan border fencing, pictured from the Indian side in Daoke village, about 45 km from Amritsar, on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)

India said on Monday it had responded to 'unprovoked' firing from Pakistan along the de facto border for the fourth consecutive night, as it deepens its search for militants in the region following last week's deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir.

After the April 22 attack that killed 26 people, India has identified two of the three suspected militants as Pakistani, although Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral probe, Reuters said.

The attack triggered outrage and grief in India, along with calls for action against Pakistan, whom New Delhi accuses of funding and encouraging terrorism in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over.

The nuclear-armed nations have unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines.

The Indian Army said it had responded to "unprovoked" small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts around midnight on Sunday along the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani areas of Kashmir. It gave no further details and reported no casualties.

The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.

India's defense forces have conducted several military exercises across the country since the attack. Some of these are routine preparedness drills, a defense official said.

Security forces have detained around 500 people for questioning after they searched nearly 1,000 houses and forests hunting for militants in Indian Kashmir, a local police official told Reuters on Monday.

At least nine houses have been demolished so far, the official added.

Political leaders in the state have called for caution to ensure the innocent are not harmed in the government's actions against terrorism after the deadliest incident of its kind in India in nearly two decades.

"It's time to... avoid any misplaced action that alienates people. Punish the guilty, show them no mercy but don't let innocent people become collateral damage," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said on X on Saturday.

Another former chief minister made an appeal to the Indian government "to take care that innocent people are not made to feel the brunt as alienation aids terrorists' goals of division and fear."

Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said in a post on X that it "unequivocally" denied involvement in last week's attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group, considered an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba by a Delhi-based think tank, blamed a 'cyber intrusion' for the previous social media post that claimed responsibility.