Russia Charges Ukraine With Blowing Up Ammonia Pipeline

June 8 (EIRNS)—Five hours before the Kakhovka dam was bombed, the critical Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline - infrastructure key for in fertilizer production for undeveloped countries - was bombed. Moscow has accused the Kiev regime of the bombing. “At about 9:00 p.m. Moscow time on June 5, a Ukrainian subversive and reconnaissance group blew up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline near the settlement of Masyutovka in the Kharkov Region. Civilians were injured as a result of this terrorist act,” the Defense Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, announced yesterday. “Currently, the ammonia remnants are being drained through the damaged pipeline sections from Ukrainian territory. There are no casualties among Russian army personnel.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the tragic consequences of the reckless action: “The Kiev regime has not only eliminated the physical possibility of supplying ammonia to the world markets, but has also dealt a blow to the overall efforts to combat the threat of famine and provide assistance to needy countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as to the personal efforts of UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres, who came up with a separate initiative on the ammonia pipeline and, in general, proposed the Istanbul package, the humanitarian significance of which is being invalidated before our eyes,” she said.

Of some note, on June 1, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Russia notified the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul that it will restrict the passage of grain ships to one of the three Ukrainian ports until Ukraine reopens the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin explained that the UN has been unable to secure the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline, nor the other four provisions for Russia of the July, 2022 grain deal. He stated: “Our position remains unchanged—the export of ammonia is part of the existing agreements and was supposed to start simultaneously with the transportation of Ukrainian grain” in July, 2022. Four days later, the pipeline was bombed.

Though not mentioned in the readouts, it’s likely that implications of blowing the ammonia pipeline for the Black Sea Grain Initiative was discussed in the phone calls that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made yesterday to his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. Today Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the incident “could have only a negative impact” on the grain deal.