To many Ukrainians and Europeans, the European Union’s unlocking of a 90bn-euro ($105bn) loan to Ukraine on April 23 was a bittersweet victory because it came with a multibillion-dollar gift to Russia.

EU member Hungary agreed to lift a veto on the loan after Ukraine mended the Druzhba pipeline, which traverses its territory and supplies Hungary with Russian oil.

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list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Ukraine says Druzhba pipeline running Russian oil to Europe can resume work

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list 3 of 4 Several killed, dozens wounded in Russian attacks on Ukraine

list 4 of 4 Ukraine restarts Russian oil to Europe, unblocking 90-billion-euro EU loan

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Ukraine needs the money to fight for another two years, but landlocked Hungary and Slovakia say they both depend on the Druzhba pipeline as their only source of crude.

Last year, they received 9.25 million tonnes through it, worth more than $4bn.…