Austria has stopped using oil from Russia, according to a posting on a Telegram channel set up by Ukraine's Interior Ministry.
It said the decision was made without waiting for a pan-European embargo.
The posting can be found on the channel Ishchi Svoikh, or "Look For Your Own." It was created by Ukraine for Russians to identify killed or captured relatives.
S&P Global reported Austria's OMV oil company has halted purchases of Russian crude oil for refining operations.
A company spokesperson confirmed Russian crude purchases have been stopped, saying, "OMV does not process Russian crude in its refineries."
Those refineries included Schwechat in Austria, Burghausen in Germany, and the majority-owned Petrobrazi refinery in Romania, S&P said.
The Telegram post said the OMV Schwechat and Burghausen refineries have already completely switched from Russian oil to oil from Kazakhstan.
The post noted OMV is the largest oil company in central Europe.
Russia was one of the key areas for the company's oil exploration.
According to S&P, OMV had previously said it was reevaluating its ties to Russia, which included helping to finance the now defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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