Russia has reportedly stopped gas supplies to Ukraine after it missed a bill payment deadline, prompting fears European Union imports will be hit.
State-owned Gazprom said Ukraine's Naftogaz had failed to pay the $1.9bn of its $4.5bn (£2.7bn) debt by the 0600 GMT (0700 BST) deadline set by Moscow and, as a result, the company would have to pay up front for its gas in future.
It also suggested deliveries for June remained uncovered.
Gazprom said: "Today, from 10:00am Moscow time, Gazprom, according to the existing contract, moved Naftogaz to prepayment for gas supplies.
"Starting today, the Ukrainian company will only get the Russian gas it has paid for," it said.
A source at Gazprom was quoted by the news agency Reuters as saying that it had now "restricted" supplies while the company filed a lawsuit in Stockholm demanding immediate payment of the full amount.
The EU gets about one third of its gas from Russia and around half of that comes through pipelines that cross Ukraine.
Gazprom said supplies for the EU were still being sent through the country despite the dispute.
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