Astana: Kazakhstan on Sunday issued a protest over what it described as 'another deliberate attack' on an oil terminal in the Black Sea, saying it expects Ukraine to take 'effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.'
According to Anadolu Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov stated that Astana expressed protest over the incident on Saturday, which targeted 'critical infrastructure' belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) 'in the waters of the Port of Novorossiysk' in southern Russia. Smadiyarov emphasized that this incident marks the third act of aggression against an exclusively civilian facility whose operation is safeguarded by norms of international law.
Smadiyarov further noted that Kazakhstan advocates for maintaining the stability and uninterrupted supply of energy resources, highlighting the CPC's important role in supporting the stability of the global energy system. He stressed that the incident harms the bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and expressed Kazakhstan's expectation for Ukraine to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
On Saturday, the CPC reported that unmanned boats damaged one of the terminal's single point moorings during a morning attack, leading to the halting of 'loading and other operations' as ordered by local Russian authorities. The CPC confirmed no casualties resulted from the attack, and there was no preliminary oil spill into the Black Sea.
Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry condemned the attack, defining actions against purely civilian critical infrastructure as unacceptable, though it did not specify who was responsible. Russia has yet to officially comment on the incident, although state media outlets, including RIA, reported the damage as having been caused by a Ukrainian attack. Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the incident or responded to Kazakhstan's statements.
The 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) pipeline operated by the CPC transports oil from the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan on the eastern shores of the Caspian to the marine terminal in Novorossiysk.