"Ukraine’s Pipelines Are Still Carrying Russian Gas To Europe"

"Naftogaz lets supplies flow through, even as it rushes to cut off gas in buildings bombarded by Russian missiles".

"Yuriy Vitrenko, the chief executive of Ukraine’s natural gas utility Naftogaz, had just made it down to an air raid shelter Saturday, along with three of his board members. He wouldn’t disclose the location because he wanted to avoid Russian troops or missiles — three of which had just landed within earshot.

One month into the war, the state-owned gas company provides a window into the conflict’s geopolitics and the extent of Ukraine’s destruction. Naftogaz serves 12 million households, Vitrenko said, but it has been forced to cut off 300,000 that have been heavily damaged by Russian missiles.

“If we cannot repair them, we have to shut them down,” Vitrenko said of the gas connections. “Sometimes an entire block [can be affected]. It can be also dangerous.” In the opening days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two of the company’s workers were killed inside a heating plant in Kherson, he added."

Steven Mufson reports for the Washington Post March 28, 2022.

Source: Washington Post, 03/29/2022