Live: Ukraine says Russia ‘beginning gas blackmail of Europe’ as Poland, Bulgaria cut off

Issued on: 27/04/2022 – 06:42

06:15am: Ukraine says Russia ‘beginning gas blackmail of Europe’ as Poland, Bulgaria cut off

Russia halted gas supplies to Poland under the Yamal contract on Wednesday, data from the European Union network of gas transmission operators showed, in a deepening of the rift between the West and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Bulgaria, like Poland a NATO and EU member, said earlier that Russia would also halt supplies of gas to it. There was no word early on Wednesday if Bulgaria’s supplies were also cut.

Ukraine accused Russia of blackmailing Europe over energy in an attempt to break its allies, as fighting heads into a third month without Russia capturing a major city. Staunch Kremlin opponent Poland is among the European countries seeking the toughest sanctions against Russia for invading its neighbour.

Poland’s gas supply contract with energy giant Gazprom covers about 50% of national consumption. State-owned PGNiG had said supplies from Gazprom via Ukraine and Belarus would be cut at 8am (0600 GMT) on Wednesday, but Poland said it did not need to draw on reserves and its gas storage was 76% full.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on “unfriendly” countries to pay for gas imports in roubles, a demand only a few buyers have implemented.

“The ultimate goal of Russia’s leadership is not just to seize the territory of Ukraine, but to dismember the entire centre and east of Europe and deal a global blow to democracy,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Tuesday.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Russia was “beginning the gas blackmail of Europe”.

Bulgaria, which is almost completely reliant on Russian gas imports, said it had fulfilled all its contractual obligations with Gazprom and that the proposed new payment scheme was in breach of the arrangement. It has held initial talks to import liquefied natural gas through neighbouring Turkey and Greece.

Gazprom said it had not yet suspended supplies to Poland but that Warsaw had to pay for gas in line with its new “order of payments.” It declined to comment regarding Bulgaria.

3:45am: Blasts heard in Russia’s Belgorod, regional governor says

A series of blasts was heard in the early hours of Wednesday in the Russian city Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, and an ammunition depot in the province was on fire.

Gladkov said no civilians had been hurt by the fire which broke out at a facility near Staraya Nelidovka village. Russia this month accused Ukraine of attacking a fuel depot in Belgorod with helicopters and opening fire on several villages in the province.

The Belgorod province borders Ukraine’s Luhansk, Sumy and Kharkiv regions, all of which have seen heavy fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago.

April 27, 12:25am: US offers $10 million reward for information on Russian intelligence officers

The United States on Tuesday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on six people it described as Russian military intelligence officers who had conducted cyber attacks affecting critical US infrastructure.

The six officers work in a cyber-focused unit of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and were involved in a 2017 global malware attack that infected the computers of several private U.S. entities, including a hospital system, the US State Department said.

The 2017 “NotPetya” cyber attack crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure and damaged computers in countries across the globe including France, Germany, Italy and the United States, causing billions of dollars in estimated damage.

Russia denies any involvement in the incident.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)