KIEV, Jan. 13 - A new stage of the "gas attack" against Ukraine's independence is beginning, which is aimed at saving Russia's Gazprom from bankruptcy by obtaining control over Ukrainian gas pipelines, said Andriy Kislinsky, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential secretariat.

"Every day of the 'gas war,’ which increasingly resembles the blockade of Leningrad after the failure of the 'blitzkrieg' in the first part of January, exacerbates the financial problems of Gazprom. The transition from 'brotherly' to market relations with Ukraine in the gas sphere, which means the need to pay an additional $4 billion in favor of Ukraine every year, will mean the bankruptcy of the gas monopolist," said Kislinsky.