Russian gas has ceased flowing to Europe through Ukraine due to the shutdown of the longstanding energy route that dates back to Soviet times. This occurred following the expiration of a 2019 transit agreement in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Russia’s gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped at 0500 GMT after Ukraine refused to renew the transit deal.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, described the moment as “historic,” while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats” in a social media post.
“When [Vladimir] Putin was given power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual gas pumping through Ukraine to Europe was 130+ billion cubic meters. Today, the transit of Russian gas is 0,” Zelenskyy remarked.
The route had endured through decades of tensions and even three years of war between Russia and Ukraine.
Europe’s shift away from Russian gas
The cessation of the gas route marked another step in Europe’s efforts to reduce dependency on Russian energy. European reliance on Russian gas has plummeted from 35% to about 8% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, hailed the development as “a new victory” for Europe.
However, not all European leaders were optimistic. Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, expressed concerns over the decision’s impact on the European Union.
“Halting gas transit via Ukraine will have a drastic impact on us all in the EU but not on the Russian Federation,” he said in a post on Facebook.
Immediate fallout in Moldova
The decision had immediate repercussions in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, where residents faced heating and hot water outages on January 1 morning after Russia stopped supplying gas to central and eastern Europe via Ukraine.
The severing of the gas flow was felt immediately in the territory of about 450,000 people, which split from Moldova in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed.
Local energy company Tirasteploenergo urged residents to stay warm by gathering in single rooms and using electric heaters but warned against using stoves for heating due to safety risks.
“Dress as warmly as possible and administer drugs for the prevention of influenza and respiratory diseases,” the company was cited as saying by Moldovan news site IPN.
Long history of tensions
The Soviet-era pipeline that transported Russian gas to Europe originated in Sudzha, Russia, and ended in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Over the years, Russia was accused of using the gas transit route for political leverage.
“Russia has abused Ukraine and Europe’s dependence on gas supplies and transit revenues to extort political concessions, spread corruption and exert malign influence,” a recent report from the Center for European Policy Analysis stated.
Negotiations to extend the transit deal failed as Ukraine prioritized independence from Russian energy over economic benefits, including lucrative transit fees.
The decision reflects the broader geopolitical shift as Europe diversifies its energy sources amidst ongoing conflict and strained relations with Russia.