Ukrainian envoy says US delivered protest to Kyiv over Caspian pipeline strike

Speaking at a press briefing in Washington, Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna said the State Department delivered a diplomatic protest, known as a demarche.

“And we heard from the State Department that we should refrain from, you know, attacking American interests,” she said.

The American side notified Kyiv that the strikes impacted US investments related to export infrastructure in the Black Sea, she said.

According to her, Washington did not request a general ban on strikes against Russian military or energy infrastructure, but specifically raised concerns about cases in which US interests were affected.

“It was specifically related to the fact that American economic interests were violated there. We took that into account,” she said.

In late November 2025, Ukraine struck the marine terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), located near Novorossiysk.

One of the offshore mooring units was damaged, after which its operation was suspended and oil loading was restricted.

According to the consortium, there was no oil leak into the Black Sea and no casualties.

The CPC is the largest route for transporting oil from the Caspian region to world markets. The pipeline is more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) long. It connects fields in western Kazakhstan with the marine terminal in Novorossiysk. A significant portion of Kazakhstan’s oil exports passes through it.

The consortium includes Russian, Kazakh and Western companies, including the American company Chevron.