An explosion rocked Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline overnight on December 3. Operatives from Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence at the Defense Ministry (known by its Ukrainian acronym GUR) were involved in the blast, according to Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine, which cited anonymous sources. Video from the scene shows details of the area where the incident occurred.
The GUR blew up a section of the Druzhba pipeline on the Taganrog–Lipetsk branch using explosives with a remote detonator, the sources said. Ukrainian operatives noted that the Druzhba pipeline continues to supply crude to some European countries. The sabotage site was near the settlement of Kazinskiye Vyselki, and accelerants were reportedly added to the explosives to intensify the burn.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and the country’s military command have not publicly commented on the incident.
Kazinskiye Vyselki is a village in the Michurinsky district of Russia’s Tambov region, roughly 400 kilometers from Ukraine. If saboteurs, rather than local resistance, carried out the operation, they would have had to pass undetected through three to four Russian regions (Kursk or Belgorod, Voronezh, and Lipetsk along a direct route).
The Druzhba pipeline still delivers fossil fuels to two EU countries, according to the Energy and Clean Air portal. In its October 2025 report, it said Hungary paid €83 million for Russian crude via pipeline and Slovakia paid €162 million. (https://energyandcleanair.org/october-2025-monthly-analysis-of-russian-fossil-fuel-exports-and-sanctions/)
On August 18, Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) commander Robert Brovdi confirmed a drone attack by the SBS 14th Regiment on the Nikolskoe substation in the Tambov region. Another incident followed on August 28, hitting the Unecha station in Russia’s Bryansk region. Brovdi said the pipeline halted oil transit to Europe afterward. Hungary then sanctioned the SBS commander, whom Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused of depriving Hungarians of fuel.
Another attack occurred in March. Reuters reported explosions at the “Steel Horse” metering substation in the Oryol region, which first drew attention in November 2022.
