ZAPOROZHYE, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine closed a gas pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to homes and industries in Western Europe on Wednesday, while an Kremlin-installed official in the southern region captured by Russian troops said the region would ask Moscow to annexed it.
The immediate effect of the energy shutdown is likely to be limited, in part because Russia could divert gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on different suppliers. But this was the first time since the start of the war that Ukraine disrupted the flow to the west of one of Moscow’s most lucrative exports.
Meanwhile, talks on the annexation of Kherson – and Russia’s apparent desire to consider such a request – have raised the possibility that the Kremlin is trying to snatch another piece from Ukraine as it tries to save a confused invasion. Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
“The city of Kherson is Russia,” Kirill Stremusov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration appointed by Moscow, told RIA Novosti. He said regional officials wanted Russian President Vladimir Putin to make Kherson a “proper region” for Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was up to “Kherson residents” to make such a request, and that any relocation to annexed territory would have to be carefully assessed by experts to make sure its legal basis was “absolutely clear”. ”
Russia has repeatedly used the annexation or recognition of breakaway republics as a tactic in recent years to win over parts of the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after holding a referendum on the peninsula on whether it wanted to become part of Russia.
Kherson, a Black Sea port of about 300,000 people, provides access to fresh water for neighboring Crimea and is seen as a gateway to broader Russian control over southern Ukraine. It was conquered at the beginning of the war, becoming the first large city to fall in Ukraine.
Adviser to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podoliak scoffed at the idea of annexing it, tweeting: “Invaders may even want to join Mars or Jupiter. The Ukrainian army will liberate Kherson, whatever word games it plays.
With regard to energy, Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator has said it has stopped blocking Russian gas through a compressor station in eastern-controlled part of eastern Ukraine, as Moscow-backed separatists have blocked the station’s operation and sucked it out. gas.
The hub processes about a third of Russia’s gas passing through Ukraine to Western Europe. But analysts say much of the gas could be diverted through another pipeline from Russia that crosses Ukraine, and preliminary figures suggest that is already happening.
In any case, Europe also receives natural gas from other pipelines and other countries.
“We are losing a few percent of total European gas supplies, given imports and local production,” said Tom Marzek-Manser, head of gas analysis at market intelligence firm ICIS. “So this is not a big disruption to gas supplies” to Europe.
Still, European gas futures have been shaken by the news, meaning consumers may face higher energy bills at a time of rising prices.
It was unclear whether Russia would suffer an immediate blow, as there are long-term contracts and other ways to transport gas.
But the disruption underscores the wider risk to gas supplies from the war.
“Yesterday’s decision is a small overview of what could happen if gas plants are affected by a live fire and face the risk of prolonged downtime,” said gas analyst Zongqiang Luo of Rystad Energy.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile attack was aimed at the area around Zaporozhye, destroying unspecified infrastructure. There are no immediate reports of casualties. The southeastern city was a refuge for civilians fleeing the Russian siege of the devastated port city of Mariupol.
Russian troops have continued to strike at the steel plant, the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, its defenders said. The Azov Regiment announced on social media that Russian forces had carried out 38 air strikes on the territory of the Azovstal steel plant the previous day.
The plant, with its network of tunnels and bunkers, has sheltered hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians during a month-long siege. Dozens of civilians have been evacuated in recent days, but Ukrainian authorities say some may still be trapped there.
In a speech on Tuesday, President Vladimir Zelensky suggested that the Ukrainian army was gradually pushing Russian troops out of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city and key to Russia’s offensive in Donbass, the eastern industrial region the Kremlin said was its main target. . .
Zelensky said his troops had driven Russian forces from four villages near Kharkov in the northeastern part of the country.
Ukraine is also targeting Russian air defenses and supply ships on Snake Island in the Black Sea in a bid to disrupt Moscow’s efforts to expand control over the coastline, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
The ministry said Russian supply ships had minimal protection after the Russian fleet withdrew to Crimea after the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet’s flagship.
Separately, Ukraine said it shot down a cruise missile aimed at the Black Sea port city of Odessa on Wednesday.
The gas cut-off came as Western powers sought to increase economic pressure on Moscow and strengthen Ukraine’s defenders. The US House of Representatives approved a $ 40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday. The Senate’s approval seemed certain.
However, there are growing fears that the fighting in Ukraine could remain a source of continental and global instability for months or even years.
Representatives of the United States and NATO have expressed concern that Russia could deepen into a protracted conflict as the war passes into its third month with little sign of a decisive military victory for both sides and no solution is seen.
The alliance is also waiting to see if Sweden and Finland, Russia’s two neighbors, announce plans to join NATO, a move the Kremlin would consider an insult.
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Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Jessica Fish in Bakhmut, David Keaton in Kyiv, Juras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstislav Chernov in Kharkov, Lolita S. Baldor in Washington, Kelvin Chan in London and AP staff around the world.
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