Druzhba

Oil shipments from Russia through a critical pipeline to Czechia resumed on Aug. 12 after more than a week, the Czech pipeline operator Mero said.

Czechia became the last central European country after Slovakia and Hungary to receive deliveries from the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline after a problem over payments for transit was resolved.

Citing heavy dependence, those countries in June secured an exemption from the EU's Russian oil embargo - due to kick in at the end of the year - for imports delivered by the Druzhba pipeline. The route carries around 250,000 barrels per day to the region. Slovakia imports over 95 per cent of its oil through Druzhba, and sends processed fuels on to its neighbours.

The Russian state company "Transneft" announced that Ukraine has stopped the transfer of Russian oil through the "Druzhba" oil pipeline to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia since August 4.

According to the press secretary of the company, the reason is that the Russian side cannot pay for the transit under the conditions of sanctions imposed by Europe.

The United States has denied Ukraine long-range missiles, the EU with a compromise oil embargo, the Netherlands is running out of gas. Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Russian forces advance in Sievierodonetsk

Bulgaria will receive a postponement of the embargo on Russian oil until June or December 2024, Bloomberg reported, citing a revised draft of sanctions.

A fire broke out on the territory of the Bryansk oil depot, the causes of which are currently unknown and are allegedly not directly related to the war in Ukraine, news agencies in Russia and Ukraine reported at the same time. According to Bryansk residents on Telegram, at least two fires are burning.

An intentional arson of a cable shaft on Tsvetan Lazarov Street in the Druzhba district in Sofia provoked a cable fault, the press center of CEZ Bulgaria announced. The accident triggered the power supply disruption of about 5,500 households and companies in the region of Druzhba 2, Gara Iskar quarter and 7 km. CEZ has restored the power supply on an alternative route.

The air in almost all of Sofia is again heavily polluted, shows a real-time report at

http://sofia.maps.luftdaten.info/#12/42.6972/23.3233.