MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. By blowing up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, the Kiev regime has eliminated the possibility of supplying ammonia to global markets and dealt a blow to the personal efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to combat famine in impoverished countries, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
"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.
Zakharova also noted that the restoration of the damaged Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline will take 1 to 3 months, if the facility is accessible. "According to preliminary estimates, the repair and restoration work [on the ammonia pipeline] will take about 1 to 3 months, provided that the site is accessible," she said.
Zakharova recalled that the ammonia pipeline was one of the core pillars in the fulfillment of the package agreements signed on July 22, 2022, in Istanbul. "The facility was critical to ensuring global food security," she said, adding that each year, approximately 2 mln metric tons of raw materials for fertilizer production were pumped through it, enough to feed 5 mln people.
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said earlier on Wednesday that Ukrainian saboteurs blew up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Kharkov Region on the evening of June 5, with civilians hurt in the sabotage attack. "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 spokesman said.