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Russian Gas Flows East via Yamal-Europe Pipeline for Fifth Day

A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
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Russian Gas Flows East via Yamal-Europe Pipeline for Fifth Day

A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

The Yamal-Europe pipeline that usually sends Russian gas to Western Europe was operating in a reverse mode for a fifth day on Saturday, shipping fuel from Germany to Poland, data from German network operator Gascade showed.

Russian gas exporter Gazprom did not book gas transit capacity for exports via the Yamal-Europe pipeline for Sunday as well, auction results showed.

European gas prices climbed to a record high this week after Yamal switched direction but eased on Friday.

Russia said the flow reversal was not a political move, though it coincides with rising tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the reversal was because of a lack of requests from buyers, Reuters reported.

Putin also said on Friday that Russia was "sidelined" by Poland in managing the pipeline and Europe had only itself to blame for soaring gas prices.

Flows at the Mallnow metering point on the German-Polish border were going east into Poland at an hourly volume of more than 1.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh/h) on Saturday and were expected to stay at these levels during the day, the data shows.

Putin has also said that Germany was reselling Russian gas to Poland and Ukraine rather than relieving an overheated market.

Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov told the NTV channel that the company was ready to supply additional gas within its long-term contracts, which would be cheaper than short-term deals concluded on European spot market.

Reverse flows from Germany to Poland - and probably to Ukraine as well - stand at between 3 million cubic metres (mcm) and 5 mcm per day, he said, reiterating that accusations that Gazprom was undersupplying gas are "groundless".

Kupriyanov added that the gas is being taken off underground storage facilities that are already depleted.

Data from Slovak pipeline operator Eustream showed capacity nominations for Saturday's Russian gas flows from Ukraine to Slovakia via the Velke Kapusany border point were at 747,031 megawatt hours (MWh), slightly up from Friday's 739,843 MWh but below levels in recent weeks.

That drop was being balanced by higher nominations for flows from the Czech Republic to Slovakia, meaning that nominations for flows from Slovakia to Austrian hub Baumgarten were roughly stable compared with levels in recent days and weeks.

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World

ISIS Claims Deadly Blast at Chinese-run Restaurant in Afghan Capital

Security forces stand at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 January 2026. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
Security forces stand at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 January 2026. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
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ISIS Claims Deadly Blast at Chinese-run Restaurant in Afghan Capital

Security forces stand at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 January 2026. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
Security forces stand at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 January 2026. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL

ISIS claimed an explosion that officials said killed a Chinese national and six Afghans, while injuring several more as it tore through a Chinese-run restaurant in a heavily guarded part of Afghanistan's capital.

Monday's blast took place in the commercial Shahr-e-Naw area that is home to offices, shopping complexes and embassies, police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said.

It is considered one of the safest neighborhoods in the city.

According to Reuters, the Afghan branch of ISIS claimed responsibility, saying in a statement it ‌was carried out ‌by a suicide bomber.

The restaurant serving the Chinese ‌Muslim ⁠community was jointly run ‌by a Chinese Muslim man, Abdul Majid, his wife, and an Afghan partner, Abdul Jabbar Mahmood, Zadran said.

"The nature of the explosion is unknown so far and is being investigated," he said.

A Chinese national, identified only as Ayub, and six Afghans were killed in the blast near the restaurant's kitchen, while several others were injured, Zadran added.

The Amaq news agency said the domestic arm of ISIS had put Chinese citizens on its list of targets, citing "growing crimes by the Chinese government against ‌Uyghurs".

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, ‍a mainly Muslim ethnic minority group ‍numbering about 10 million who live in China's far western region of ‍Xinjiang.

Beijing denies any abuse and has accused Western countries of interference and peddling lies.

The blast injured five Chinese nationals, and China has requested that Afghanistan spare no effort to treat the injured, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

China also requested that Afghanistan take effective measures to protect the safety of ⁠its citizens and investments, and investigate, Guo said.

On Monday, videos shared on social media showed smoke billowing from a large hole torn in the facade of the restaurant building, while debris littered the street outside.

"We have received 20 people at our hospital," Dejan Panic, the Afghanistan director of humanitarian group EMERGENCY, said in a statement, adding that seven were dead on arrival. "Among the wounded are four women and a child."

World

Ukraine’s FM Calls for Urgent Support After Russian Attack

Police officers inspect remains of a Russian suicide drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Police officers inspect remains of a Russian suicide drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s FM Calls for Urgent Support After Russian Attack

Police officers inspect remains of a Russian suicide drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Police officers inspect remains of a Russian suicide drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)

Ukraine's foreign minister called ​on Tuesday for urgent support for Ukraine, including air defense and sanctions pressure ‌on ‌Russia, ‌saying ⁠Moscow's ​latest "barbaric ‌strike" was a wake-up call to world leaders gathering in Davos.

"We ⁠need urgent additional ‌energy assistance, ‍air ‍defense and interceptors, ‍as well as sanctions pressure on Moscow," Andrii ​Sybiha said in a post ⁠on X, adding that thousands of houses were without heating in capital Kyiv in freezing temperatures.

World

Spain Mourns as Train Crash Toll Rises to 40

Members of the Spanish Civil Guard crime department work next to the trains involved in the accident, at the site of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the Spanish Civil Guard crime department work next to the trains involved in the accident, at the site of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spain Mourns as Train Crash Toll Rises to 40

Members of the Spanish Civil Guard crime department work next to the trains involved in the accident, at the site of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the Spanish Civil Guard crime department work next to the trains involved in the accident, at the site of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Spain begins three days of national mourning on Tuesday for the 40 people killed in a high-speed train crash that the prime minister has vowed to investigate.

The crash late on Sunday is Spain's deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.

The latest disaster took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.

It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed.

"This is a day of sorrow for all of Spain, for our entire country," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters during a visit to Adamuz on Monday as he declared three days of mourning.

"We will uncover the answer, and once the cause of this tragedy is determined, we will present it with absolute transparency."

Forty deaths have been confirmed due to the crash, the head of Andalucia's regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno, told a news conference, raising the toll from 39.

It would take 24-48 hours "to know with certainty how many deaths have resulted from this terrible accident," he added.

Heavy machinery was deployed on Monday to lift the most severely damaged train carriages and give rescuers better access to the site of the disaster.

Over 120 people were injured, with 41 still in hospitals in the nearby city of Cordoba, Moreno said.

Relatives and friends of missing passengers have turned to social media, posting photos in an effort to find them.

- 'Extremely strange' -

Aerial footage of the crash site from Spain's Guardia Civil police force showed the two trains far apart, as rescuers in high-visibility neon vests worked nearby.

Unlike the 2013 accident, the derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit, officials said.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the first train to derail was "practically new" and the section of the track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident "extremely strange".

Train operator Iryo said the locomotive was built in 2022 and last inspected just three days before the accident. It said it "veered onto the adjacent track for still unknown reasons".

The company said around 300 people were on board its service from the Andalusian city of Malaga to the capital, Madrid.

Renfe, the operator of the second train travelling to the southern city of Huelva, said it was carrying 184 passengers.

Human error has "been practically ruled out", Renfe President Alvaro Fernandez Heredia told Spanish public radio RNE.

Heredia also ruled out speeding as a cause of the accident. He said both trains were traveling just over 200 kilometers (120 miles) per hour, below the 250 kilometers per hour limit for that section of track.

"It must be related to Iryo's rolling stock or an infrastructure issue," he added.

- 'Strong hit' -

Spain has Europe's largest high-speed rail network, with more than 3,000 kilometers of dedicated tracks connecting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Malaga.

Survivor Lucas Meriako, who was travelling on the first train that derailed, told La Sexta television that it looked "like a horror movie".

"We felt a very strong hit from behind and the feeling that the whole train was about to collapse, break... there were many injured due to the glass," he said.

In Adamuz, where white buildings gleam among orange-lined streets, residents rushed to the town hall with supplies as news of the disaster spread.

"We started bringing water, blankets, everything we could," Manuel Munoz, a 60-year-old olive oil factory worker, told AFP.

Among those offering condolences were Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron.