LONDON — European natural gas prices hit a 15-month high Thursday after Ukraine blocked Russian gas from transiting through the European Union.

Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom will lose more than $5 billion a year if the route is shut down, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “one of Moscow’s biggest failures.”

Kyiv will lose about $800 million in transit fees from Moscow.

Thomas O’Donnell, global fellow and energy analyst at the Wilson Center in Berlin, said that despite Thursday’s rise in natural gas prices, the impact on Europe is likely to be limited.

“This is all prepared for. It’s basically priced in. Of course, there are winners and losers to a certain extent. Certain countries are more dependent on this route than others. For example, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria,” O’Donnell told VOA.

“Austria is well prepared. They have other alternative supplies from Germany, Italy and other countries. Slovakia will not run out of gas. They will have plenty of gas. It’s just that they will pay more for it, like everyone else has been doing,” he added.

Moldova is one of the countries most dependent on Russian gas transiting through Ukraine. In the breakaway region of Transnistria, which is controlled by Russian troops, residents lost heat and hot water on Wednesday, and authorities urged people to dress warmly and use electric heaters.