Pipe problems: on Gazprom's Urengoi link
Blast rocks Gazprom export link
An explosion has hit Gazprom's Urengoi-Uzhgorod pipeline, which pumps gas to Europe via Ukraine, but supplies to Europe continue to run smoothly, the country's Emergencies Ministry said.
The blast and subsequent fire hit the pipeline, which takes Gazprom's gas from the Arctic region of Urengoi through Ukraine and into Europe, at a point 170 kilometres north-east of the town of Perm in the Ural mountains.
"A rupture and a flare-up occured ... at one of the six links of the Urengoi-Uzhgorod trunk pipeline at 02:10 Moscow time on 8 April (2210 GMT on 7 April)," the ministry said.
"There are no casualties. The broken part of the line is blocked. Supplies to customers continue via the other lines," it added in a press release.
No further details were immediately available.
Gazprom supplies a quarter of Europe's gas needs, 80% of which goes via the Urengoi-Uzhgorod pipeline.