The transit route used for deliveries of Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine still works Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushenko clarified today Thursday, following reports of hostilities at the Sunja natural gas transit station.

He also clarified that Ukraine had not communicated with Russia regarding the situation in natural gas transit.

Russia said yesterday it was waging heavy fighting against Ukrainian forces that had infiltrated near important natural gas transportation hub in Sundza, in one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since the start of the war.

The natural gas transfer and metering stations at Sunja in the Kursk region of Russia are the only point of entry of Russian natural gas into the Ukrainian natural gas transmission system for onward transport to Europe.

Ukraine’s gas transmission operator told Reuters earlier today that Russian gas continued to flow normally to Europe via Ukraine.

Later, the management company said that Russia’s Gazprom planned to send about 41.7 million cubic meters natural gas through Ukraine tomorrow Friday, against 37.25 million cubic meters that were planned for today.

In May 2022, at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the managing gas transit company of Ukraine stopped the transfer of natural gas on an alternative branch line through the Sokhranivka transit point near the Lugansk region in the eastern part of the country.

Ukraine had announced that Russian forces had begun taking natural gas flowing through Ukraine and sending it to two Russian-backed separatist regions in the east of the country.

Following the closure of Sokhranifka, transit volumes fell by a quarter as Gazprom said it was unable to divert volumes to Sunja.

The agreement on the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe through Ukraine expires this year and Kiev has said it has no intention of extending it or entering into a new agreement.