Gazprom suspended the flow of natural gas through its main pipeline from Russia to Europe earlier on Wednesday, a temporary move announced in advance. The Russian state-controlled energy giant said earlier this month it would cut off gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by Saturday, as it said routine maintenance at compressor stations would be suspended for three days.

According to Gazprom, the remaining turbines at the Portovaya compressor station need maintenance. Klaus Mueller, head of Germany’s federal cyber agency, said the maintenance was technically incomprehensible. He saw it as a way of punishing Germany for siding with Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

Gazprom has repeatedly reduced gas flow through Nord Stream 1, citing technical issues such as equipment maintenance. Germany called the production cuts a political move to sow uncertainty and push up prices during the war in Ukraine.

Russia has also reduced gas supplies to other European countries that sided with Ukraine in the war. Russia recently accounted for about a third of Germany’s gas supplies. The government said last week that the drop in gas flows confirmed that Germany could not rely on Russian supplies and announced it would increase its gas storage needs and take further steps to save supplies.