Russia strikes SOCAR facilities again: what will Azerbaijan’s response be?
18 August 12:16
On the morning of August 18, Russian armed forces carried out another attack on infrastructure facilities in Odessa Region using attack drones. The large-scale attack was reported by the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Kiper, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
As a result of enemy fire on the outskirts of Odessa there was a fire at the fuel and energy complex enterprise and in an adjacent two-story building. A specialized fire train of the state railway company was engaged to eliminate the large-scale fire, the head of the region stressed.
Representatives of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations reported that more than a hundred specialists from various services were fighting the fire at the damaged energy complex. Rescue units, volunteers, National Guard fighters and municipal firefighters were involved in the extinguishment. An automatic firefighting robot was also involved in the operation.
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Local Telegram channels claim that the target of the Russian strike was an oil depot of a branch of the Azerbaijani state corporation SOCAR Energy.
Officials have not yet provided confirmation of this information, but it was confirmed by former deputy chief prosecutor of Ukraine Gunduz Mammadov. He published his own assessment of the situation, noting that the occupation troops had attacked SOCAR’s oil terminal in Odessa Region the previous day. In his opinion, such an incident may become the basis for Baku’s involvement in the process of investigation of Russia’s actions.
“Last night the Russian army made a second attack on SOCAR oil terminals in Odessa region. This is not an accident – such attacks can be qualified as deliberate attacks on Azerbaijan’s civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. They have signs of a war crime. Since SOCAR is a state-owned company, the Azerbaijani prosecutor has the right to initiate criminal proceedings under the principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction. An important step could be the establishment by Ukraine and Azerbaijan of a joint international investigation team to investigate this incident. If the intentional nature of the actions is established, this attack may be considered an act of aggression. In this case, Azerbaijan may refer the case to the UN, citing the violation of the UN General Assembly resolution 3314 (1974) on the definition of aggression,” the lawyer noted
– noted the lawyer.
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Background
In early August, namely on the night of the 8th, Russian armed forces attacked the oil depot of the Azerbaijani company SOCAR, located in Odessa region, with the help of five kamikaze drones. The attack resulted in a large-scale fire and damage to a diesel pipeline. Four employees of the company were seriously injured.
Prior to this incident, Russian forces attacked a gas distribution station near the village of Orlovka in the Odessa region. This infrastructure facility is part of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, which began supplying Azerbaijani natural gas to Ukraine on June 28.
on August 10, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation. During the conversation, the two leaders condemned Russia’s systematic attacks on oil and gas facilities located in Ukraine and related to Azerbaijani interests. On the same day, Caliber.Az, citing its own sources, reported that Baku may reconsider lifting the arms embargo on Ukraine.
Within the framework of support for Ukraine, President Aliyev signed a decree on allocation of 2 million dollars for humanitarian aid. These funds are to be used for the purchase of energy equipment to restore damaged infrastructure.
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