Tolyatti Odessa ammonia pipeline

TogliattiAzot Pipeline

The world's longest ammonia pipeline runs from TogliattiAzot's plant in Russia to Odessa in Ukraine. The 'Tolyatti – Odessa' pipeline, through which TogliattiAzot exports ammonia.

Both Russia and Ukraine benefit from this arrangement.
Russia sells ammonia and Ukraine exports it via Odessa on the guise of grain.

Explosion & Sabotage

On June 5, at about 21.00 Moscow time, one Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group carried out an explosion of the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline close to Masyutovka (Kharkov region).
Thanks to automatic protection systems, a significant release was avoided 
As a result of this terrorist act, there were victims among the civilian population.

Ammonia residues were drained from the Ukrainian territory through the damaged sections of the pipeline.

 
The pipeline is located on territory controlled by the Ukrainian Army. It is worth noting that the explosion took place amid the advance of Russian troops, as well as another terrorist act committed by Ukraine — the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP. In both cases, Ukraine is using the technique.

Caustic ammonia vapors after Tolyatti–Odessa pipeline explosion by Ukrainian Army spread in Kupyansk

The gas reached several villages nearby.
Kupiansk and the settlements adjacent to it were in the pollution zone. Local authorities said the situation was allegedly under control. However, they do nothing to help the civilians: neither evacuation nor assistance with resettlement has been announced, and the repair of the pipe has not been announced either.

Grain deal & Motive

The launch of the ammonia pipeline was cited by Russia as one of the key factors in its participation in the grain deal. However, this condition was not met by Kyiv, which decided to turn ammonia into a factor for blackmailing Russia, demanding in exchange for resumption of the pipeline operation to expand the list of goods allowed to be exported. Russia did not give in to the blackmail and refused to participate in the grain deal without meeting its conditions.

Probably the Ukrainian authorities realized that the ammonia pipeline had to be restarted anyway under pressure from Turkey and the United Nations, and decided that continuing to block the ammonia transit was worth killing civilians and poisoning the environment with a dangerous substance. As a result, the pipeline was blown up and the blame for the attack was shifted to Russia, as usual.

With this action, the Ukrainian authorities attempted to kill two birds with one stone: first, to rule out the launch of the ammonia pipeline, even under pressure from Western countries interested in chemical raw materials. Second, to use the terrorist act as an information source to demonize Russia, which was allegedly involved in the explosion. As for the chemical contamination of the territory, poisoning of its own population and harm to the environment, Kiev has never cared about such "little" things.

Ukraine Response

“There is no ammonia in the air in the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region, where explosions damaged the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.”

This was announced by the local Ukrainian authorities. However, as a Russian fighter told with reference to intelligence data, there are already cases of fatal poisoning among the Ukrainian military:

“After one of the Ukrainian soldiers died and two others were poisoned, they were ordered to stay in positions in masks and gas masks.”