On Wednesday, Russian gas shipments to Europe via a transit point in Ukraine ceased, while Kyiv declared battlefield victories over invading Russian soldiers, possibly signalling a shift in the war’s direction.
Even after President Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military action’ on February 24, Ukraine has remained a significant gateway for Russian gas to Europe.
Western sanctions are attempting to prohibit or phase out the use of Russian energy, which is a major source of cash for Putin’s war effort and a weakness for Europe, particularly Germany.
Ukraine’s gas pipeline operator said on Tuesday it would transfer gas from the Sokhranivka transit point, which is in a territory seized by Russian forces, to another in a Ukraine-controlled area, blaming the stoppage on the presence of occupying forces.
Data from the operator showed that requests for Russian gas transit via Sokhranivka for May 11 had dropped to zero.
Since being forced to abandon an attack on Kyiv’s capital at the end of March, Russia’s main army has been attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas region, utilising Izyum near Kharkiv in the northeast as a base.
But, according to Tetiana Apatchenko, a press officer with the major Ukrainian army in the area, Ukrainian troops have mainly held out against assaults and have recently regained four settlements north of Kharkiv.
According to Ukraine’s general staff, Russian soldiers were attempting to block Ukrainian troops from pressing farther towards the border in the Kharkiv region and totally capturing the town of Rubizhne.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod area announced on his Telegram channel that a ‘yellow,’ the second-highest, security alert will be kept there until May 25. Ukrainian soldiers have launched periodic attacks in the area.
A Ukrainian counterattack near Kharkiv might usher in a new phase of the conflict, putting Russian supply routes at risk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed that Ukrainian victories were progressively driving Russian forces out of Kharkiv, which has been bombarded since the war began.
‘However, I would like to caution all of our people… not to propagate extreme sentiments. We should avoid creating an environment of undue moral pressure, where triumphs are anticipated monthly, if not daily,’ in a video speech, he added.
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