Russia-Ukraine crisis: Moscow increased gas pipeline pressure without notice, Kyiv says

Russian gas giant Gazprom has sharply increased pressure in the pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company said on Tuesday.

Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies such as pipeline ruptures, and pipeline operators are obliged to inform each other about them in advance, the Ukrainian company added.

Gazprom could not be immediately reached for comment.

Russia has continued to pump gas through Ukraine, even as the two countries are engaged in war. On Monday, Gazprom said that its supply of gas to Europe (via Ukraine) was seen at 41.7 million cubic metres (mcm) that day, versus 41.2 mcm a day earlier.

At the same time, citing instructions from an industry watchdog, they also said that the gas flow to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline— which bypasses Ukraine— would fall to 33 mcm per day from Wednesday, i.e, half of the current flow rate, which is already only 40% of normal capacity.

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