With the arrival of winter in Europe and energy prices soaring, tensions are running high over the provision of gas from Russia — especially through the Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs through Poland and Belarus.
Yet the Yamal pipeline is just one part of a complex gas infrastructure network shaped not only by energy needs but also wider economic interests and politics, including strife between Russia and Ukraine.
The pipeline, opened in 1994, runs across 2,000km to Germany from the city of Torjok in central Russia, transiting through Belarus and Poland.
It delivers 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe each year,