Live: Russia cuts off gas exports to Finland after payments dispute

Issued on: 21/05/2022 – 07:01

6:55am: Russian gas to Finland has been halted, says Finnish company

Russian supply of natural gas to Finland was halted Saturday, Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum said, after the Nordic country refused to pay supplier Gazprom in rubles.

“Natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract have been cut off,” Gasum said in a statement, adding that natural gas would instead be supplied from other sources through the Balticconnector pipeline, which connects Finland to Estonia.

10pm: Wimbledon stripped of ranking points by ATP, WTA over Russia, Belarus ban

Wimbledon had its ranking points stripped by the ATP and WTA Tours on Friday over its decision to exclude players from Russia and Belarus at this year’s championships due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tennis’s governing bodies have banned Russia and Belarus from international team competitions following the invasion, which Moscow calls a ‘special operation’, but allowed players from the two countries to continue competing as neutrals.

The move by the men’s and women’s tours to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points will effectively reduce the world’s most famous tennis tournament to an exhibition event.

“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour,” the ATP said in a statement.

“The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement.

8:34pm: Russia claims full control of Mariupol

Russia’s defence chief says the country’s forces have taken full control of the massive steel plant in Mariupol that was the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city.

That would mark the end of a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of Ukraine’s vital Black Sea port of Mariupol to ruins and left over 20,000 people there feared dead.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has been “completely liberated” from Ukrainian fighters.

(REUTERS)