Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently experiencing one of the most embarrassing moments of his long reign.
The Ukrainian army has entered Kursk region, marking the first invasion of the Russian Federation by a foreign army since World War II. Putin has perhaps only experienced such humiliation during the rebellion of Prigozhin, who had marched with his private army towards Moscow and had to quickly evacuate the Kremlin.
Today, the Russian president ordered 10,000 rubles (or nearly $115) to be paid to residents of Kursk region who left their homes after the Ukrainian invasion. This is a one-time help.
Against this backdrop, it became clear that the transit of Russian natural gas through the "Sudzha" GIS continues, the Ukrainian Energy Minister announced. Ukraine has not established contact with Russia regarding the situation in the area of the "Sudzha" gas metering station (GIS), through which the transit of Russian natural gas continues. This was stated today by Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, quoted by Reuters. Halushchenko's statement comes amid reports of "hostile actions" in the area of the Russian city of Sudzha and the gas measuring station of the same name, BTA reported.
Earlier, Russian military bloggers announced, without providing evidence, that Ukrainian military units had seized the facility. "Sudzha" is the only station through which Russian natural gas is still transited through Ukraine to other European countries. In turn, the Russian state company "Gazprom" announced that today it is supplying 37.3 million cubic meters of natural gas through the "Sudzha" GIS.
Yesterday, the volume of pumping of the blue fuel was 39.4 million cubic meters. Russian forces are fighting for the third day with Ukrainian military units that entered the border with the Kursk region, Reuters reported earlier today. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the price of natural gas in Europe has risen to its highest level since December amid market concerns about a possible halt to the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine. The TTF price index, reflecting the dynamics of natural gas prices traded at the gas hub in the Netherlands, reached more than 41.8 euros per megawatt-hour of natural gas for delivery in November.