Europe Fears Cuts In Natural Gas From Russia

DASHAVA, UKRAINE - SEPTEMBER 18: A worker stands next to a hand wheel on a structure called a separator, which removes water from incoming natural gas, at the Dashava natural gas facility on September 18, 2014 in Dashava, Ukraine. The Dashava facility, which is both an underground storage site for natural gas and an important transit station along the natural gas pipelines linking Russia, Ukraine and eastern and western Europe, is operated by Ukrtransgaz, a subsidiary of Ukrainian energy company NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. Ukraine recently began importing natural gas from Slovakia through Dashava as Ukraine struggles to cope with cuts in gas deliveries by Gazprom of Russia. As Russia has cut supplies many countries in Europe that rely heavily on Russian gas fear that Russia will increasingly use gas delivery cuts as a political weapon to counter European economic sanctions arising from Russian involvement in fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)