Russia’s biggest natural gas pipeline to Europe will not resume pumping until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment, Gazprom has said. Siemens Energy said an engine oil leak at the last remaining turbine in operation at the Portovaya compressor station did not warrant keeping the pipeline closed.
The Kremlin said Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, as gas prices surged and the pound and euro slumped. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. “It is these sanctions imposed by the western states that have brought the situation to what we see now.”
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has blamed Europe’s energy crisis on sanctions it imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine – a line taken by the Kremlin itself. European nations were “harvesting what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia, Erdoğan added.
The backup power line at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine has been disconnected to extinguish a fire, officials said on Monday. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the line itself was not damaged and that the backup line “will be reconnected once the fire has been extinguished”.
An expert mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set to release their findings from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in a detailed report later on Tuesday. Four of the six UN mission members at the plant have left the site and the remaining two IAEA experts will stay on a permanent basis, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
The Kremlin has said “with much certainty” that Russia-UK relations will not improve under the leadership of Liz Truss. “Judging by statements made by Madame Truss when she was still foreign minister … one can say with much certainty that no changes for the better are expected,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Ukraine’s forces are conducting counteroffensive actions in the east and south-east of the country, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has said. Writing on Telegram, Oleksiy Arestovych said Kyiv’s troops had “liberated several settlements on the western bank of the Dnieper” and that Russian forces on the right bank of the Dnieper would be in an “extremely difficult” position within a month.
The Russian defence ministry is in the process of buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a newly downgraded US intelligence finding. A US official said the fact Russia was turning to North Korea demonstrated that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”.
Vladimir Putin attended large-scale military exercises on Tuesday involving China and several other Russia-friendly countries. Participating countries in the military drills included several of Russia’s neighbours, as well as Syria, India and key ally China.
Jailed Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff has said worsening prison conditions were threatening his health. In a post on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, Navalny wrote last week via his lawyers that he had been sent to a punishment cell for a third time in August in revenge for his political activity.
Ukraine’s southern offensive has prompted Kherson occupiers to “pause” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia. Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s Russian-appointed authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.
Ukraine has repelled Russian offensives in the east as well as hindering Russian positions near Kramatorsk, a key town in eastern Donetsk region, its armed forces claimed. In a situational update, it also claimed that Ukrainian troops had successes in disrupting Russian crossings near Kherson and in using long-range artillery in Kharkiv. In a rare acknowledgment of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russia said it pushed back assaults in Kherson.
