Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Wednesday it had “completely” suspended gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline for three days of maintenance work.

“Scheduled work on the gas compressor station has begun,” the message of the Russian group on the Telegram account says.

The Russians stopped gas supplies through the gas pipeline that supplies Germany from 4:00 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday until the same time on September 3.

Gazprom justifies this measure by repairing the only gas pumping unit that remains in operation.

The Russian energy company states that after the completion of the works and in the absence of technical failures, natural gas supply through the Nord Stream gas pipeline will be restored to the level of 33 million cubic meters per day.

Since July 27, the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been operating at only 20% of its maximum capacity due to the shutdown of several turbines, which, according to Gazprom, it was forced to do because of Western sanctions.

In early August, the Russian energy company said it could not return a Siemens turbine repaired in Canada, saying it needed more documents to prove it was not subject to Western sanctions.

However, in mid-July, Gazprom insisted that the turbine be returned to it by Siemens after it was repaired across the Atlantic, saying that supplies of natural gas to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline depended on it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally spoke about this turbine, questioning its condition.

“They say they’re going to put those (turbines) back, at least one of them. But under what conditions they will return them, and what the technical parameters will be after the repair, remains to be seen. Maybe they (pipeline operators) will just have to turn it off at some point, and then Nord Stream 1 will stop,” the Kremlin leader said on July 20.