Large explosions hit two key oil refineries in Hungary and Romania within hours of each other on Monday, October 20.
Due to the suspicious timing of the explosions, there is speculation about coordinated sabotage amid rising tensions over Europe’s energy dependence on Russia.
The first explosion occurred at the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery in Plioiesti, Romania, around 11:30 local time.
Following the incident, only one injured worker was reported who was injured during maintenance work on the industrial sewage system.
The Petrotel-Lukoil refinery is one of the largest facilities in Romania and is owned by the Russian company Lukoil.
Hours later, another fire and explosions hit the MOL Danube refinery in Százhalombatta, Hungary.
Emergency crews contained the fire in time and no injuries were reported.
The refinery is very important as it serves as a crucial hub for Hungary and Slovakia, processing crude oil from the Russian Druzhba pipeline, which suspended operations when investigations began.
Due to the almost simultaneous timing of the incidents and both incidents sharing a similarity of lack of immediate technical explanations, they fuel widespread suspicion of deliberate attacks.
The explosions coincided with a key EU move, coming on the same day that EU energy ministers backed a proposal to phase out Russian energy imports by 2028.
This plan grants limited exemptions to landlocked nations such as Hungary and Slovakia.
The events occur in the context of a secret “war on energy.”
Recently, Ukraine has successfully carried out a long-range drone strike operation against Russian refineries, substantially harming Moscow’s fuel production and export revenues.
In addition, Ukraine has also been involved in sabotage operations targeting Russian energy infrastructure in countries that are allies, an argument that arose in a recent diplomatic dispute between Poland and Germany regarding the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022.
Although governments in both Romania and Hungary have launched formal investigations and have not mentioned sabotage, the geopolitical context ensures that such technical failures will be investigated as possible incidents of an expanding shadow war.
