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26 Mar, 08:10

Astana expresses its concerns over Ukrainian attacks on oil pumping station — diplomat

Akan Rakhmetullin said that an investigation into the second attack earlier this month is currently being conducted

ASTANA, March 26. /TASS/. Kazakhstan has communicated its concerns over recent Ukrainian drone attacks on an oil pumping station belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to Kiev, Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rakhmetullin told reporters.

"As regards the initial attack [in February], we have shared our concerns with the Ukrainian side," the Kazakh diplomat said following a session of the lower chamber of the republic’s parliament, the Majilis. And an investigation into the second attack earlier this month is currently being conducted, he added.

Meanwhile, Kazakh diplomats are maintaining contacts with Ukraine in the wake of the drone attacks on the CPC infrastructure, another Kazakh deputy foreign minister, Alibek Kuantyrov, who also attended the Majilis session, shared.

"We maintain communication with the Ukrainian side, and [discussions] on this issue are currently taking place. The Ukrainian side is in the know," he explained to reporters.

Ukrainian troops attacked the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station on February 17. Kazakhstan uses the CPC, operated by a joint Russian, US, and Kazakh consortium, to pump oil to global markets. The oil facility was damaged in the attack, and its operation was halted for maintenance and repair. The Kazakh Energy Ministry said back then that oil pumping had been restarted bypassing that station.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported a Ukrainian attack on the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station, which had taken place in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region at about 2:00 a.m. Moscow time on March 24 (11:00 p.m. on March 23 GMT). According to the ministry, Russian air defenses intercepted a Ukrainian drone seven kilometers away from the oil station, which is part of international energy infrastructure, while its fragments fell near the Kavkazskaya railway station.