MOSCOW: A blast ripped through a gas pipeline in central Russia, killing three people and disrupting some of the limited amount of Russian gas that is still reaching Europe, local officials said on Tuesday.
The flow of gas through a section of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline that takes gas from Russia’s Arctic to Europe via Ukraine had been halted as of 1:50 p.m. (1050 GMT), the local officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
Oleg Nikolayev, governor of the Republic of Chuvashia, told state TV that three people, who were carrying out servicing work, have died in the accident, while another, a driver, “was in a state of shock.”
He said it was unclear when gas supplies via the pipeline could resume, and authorities were trying to work that out.
The Chuvashia regional Emergencies Ministry said an explosion had ripped through the pipeline during planned maintenance work near the village of Kalinino, about 150 km (90 miles) west of the Volga city of Kazan. It said the resulting gas flare had been extinguished.
The pipeline, built in the 1980s, enters Ukraine via the Sudzha metering point, currently the main route for Russian gas to reach Europe.
Europe’s gas prices have surged this year after Russia cut exports through its main gas pipeline route into Germany, leaving only pipelines via Ukraine to ship Russian gas to European consumers.
The head office of the state-owned gas producer Gazprom and its local branch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gazprom said earlier on Tuesday it expected to pump 43 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine through Sudzha in the next 24 hours, a volume in line with recent days.
Forward prices on the Dutch TTF hub rose following the news. The benchmark TTF front-month contract was up 1.10 euros at 108.10 euro per megawatt hour by 1347 GMT. It had traded around 105 euros/MWh earlier in the day.
Three dead as blast shuts part of Russia-Ukraine gas export pipeline
https://arab.news/m2txc
Three dead as blast shuts part of Russia-Ukraine gas export pipeline
- The flow of gas through a section of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline that takes gas from Russia's Arctic to Europe via Ukraine had been halted
- Governor of the Republic of Chuvashia told state TV that three people, who were carrying out servicing work, have died in the accident
Mexico’s Sheinbaum to hold a support rally following major protests
- Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny
MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has organized a large rally in the country’s capital on Saturday to shore up her support following a month of political pushback and major protests.
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
