I have come across a story explaining in some detail how Russia and Ukraine depend on each other in gas transit and distribution. Jerome Guillet, an energy banker based in Paris, has posted extensively at EuroTribune but I would single out this piece as heavy on information and high-quality rumors rather than opinions.
Among Jerome’s opinions, my pick is this: contrary what I have assumed all along, it is questionable whether Russia has actually been subsidizing Ukrainian industry, as Gazprom has been selling gas to Ukraine through opaque schemes (last modified but not clarified in Jan. 2006) that price-discriminate between Ukrainian consumers according to bizarre criteria and benefit certain well-positioned individuals in both countries.