Damaging the pumping station undermines Donald Trump’s presidential agenda, the senior Russian official has said
A Ukrainian drone strike on an internationally operated oil pumping station in Russia was an attack against US companies, the global oil market, and US President Donald Trump’s agenda, according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He likened the incident to a farm animal biting its owner’s hand.
The Kropotkinskaya station, which was struck by Ukrainian drones on Monday morning, is part of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which includes major American companies Chevron and ExxonMobil and transports oil from western Kazakhstan along with Russian products. The CPC reported a reduction in pumping capacity due to the attack.
Medvedev, currently the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, said in a post on Tuesday that the Ukrainian assault was a desperate attempt to show the West – and Trump personally – that Kiev could inflict significant damage if deprived of foreign aid.
”Trump has publicly declared his intention to lower oil prices. An attack on the oil consortium risks halting deliveries, destabilizing the market, increasing price volatility, and directly harming American companies,” he stated. “The CPC attack represents a triple blow to American businesses, the oil market, and Trump himself.”
He went on to compare the Ukrainian government with a rabid farm animal that bites its owner, resulting in the difficult situation of having to decide whether to have the animal put down.
The strike on the Kropotkinskaya station came just a day before high-level talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia, aimed at improving bilateral relations and potentially forging a peace deal in the Ukraine conflict – which Trump pledged to do during the 2024 presidential campaign. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has preemptively rejected any agreements made without Kiev’s input.
The Trump administration intends to put the burden of Ukrainian security on America’s European allies after a truce with Russia is reached, and to recoup US funds spent on the conflict by gaining privileged access to mineral resources controlled by Ukraine. EU officials criticized Washington for this during last week’s Munich Security Conference.
Just before the international gathering in Germany, Zelensky accused Russia of striking the containment structure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the 1986 disaster, with a kamikaze drone, claiming it was a “signal” to Western nations. Moscow has described the incident as a likely provocation by Kiev.
