Ukrainians make gains in east, stop Russian gas at one hub
ABC News
Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator on Wednesday stopped Russian shipments through a key hub in the east of the country
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine -- Ukraine's natural gas pipeline operator on Wednesday stopped Russian shipments through a key hub in the east of the country, while its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Kyiv's military had made small gains, pushing Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv.
The pipeline operator said Russian shipments through its Novopskov hub, in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, would be cut beginning Wednesday. It said the hub handles about a third of Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Western Europe. Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom put the figure at about a quarter.
The move marks the first time natural gas supply has been affected by the war that began in February. It may force Russia to shift flows of its gas through territory controlled by Ukraine to reach its clients in Europe. Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom initially said it couldn’t, though preliminary flow data suggested higher rates moving through a second station in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The operator said it was stopping the flow because of interference from “occupying forces,” including the apparent siphoning of gas. Russia could reroute shipments through Sudzha, a main hub in a northern part of the country controlled by Ukraine, it said. But Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov said that would be “technologically impossible” and questioned the reason given for the stoppage.
