Moscow, Russia

A day after a prison housing Ukrainian prisoners of war was attacked, the Russian energy giant Gazprom on Saturday stopped supplying gas to Latvia, leaving scores of people dead. On Wednesday, Gazprom sharply reduced gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline to around 20 per cent of its capacity. In June, it repeatedly cut gas deliveries to Europe.

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The state-run Russian corporation had previously declared it will reduce its supply to 33 million cubic metres per day, or half of what it has been supplying since service was restored last week after a 10-day maintenance period. In response to Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine, European Union member states have accused Russia of restricting supplies.

One of the pipeline's final two working turbines has been shut down, according to Gazprom, because of the "technical condition of the engine." The reduced supply has been attributed to EU sanctions by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. This week, the EU approved a plan to cut back on gas use in solidarity with Germany, where the Nord Stream pipeline is located, and issued a warning against Russian "blackmail".

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A day after Kyiv was accused of using US-provided long-range missiles to attack a prison in Russian-controlled territory in an "egregious provocation" meant to prevent captured soldiers from turning themselves in, Russia's defence ministry continued to launch strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities on Saturday. They included the Ukrainian military who had given up after weeks of resistance to Russia's merciless bombing of the expansive Azovstal steelworks in the coastal city of Mariupol, it was reported on Saturday.

(with inputs from agencies)