Russia's Gazprom started supplying gas to rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Thursday afternoon after Kiev cut deliveries, citing damage to the pipelines caused by fighting.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, as cited by RIA Novosti, announced that the company had started delivering gas to Ukraine via the Prokhorovka and Platovo pumping stations at 4 pm Moscow time.

He specified that gas deliveries were reaching 12 million cubic metres of gas per 24 hours.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev declared earlier Thursday that Russian gas could be supplied to the rebel-controlled territories as humanitarian aid.

Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz announced that it had suspended supplies on February 18 due to extensive pipeline damage caused by fighting.

The gas company informed in a media statement that it was impossible to resume supplies because of the ongoing hostilities.

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