Attack on Russian Pipeline in Kharkiv Puts Black Sea Grain Deal at Risk

Vessels await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. Yoruk Isik/Reuters

A pipeline in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region for the transport of ammonia, a key fertilizer ingredient, was intentionally breached this week by saboteurs, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

“On the evening of June 5, a Ukrainian subversive and reconnaissance group blew up the Togliatti–Odesa ammonia pipeline near the settlement of Masiutivka in Kharkiv,” the ministry claimed in a June 7 statement.