The flow of natural gas from Russia to Germany via a crucial undersea pipeline stopped on Monday, as the link went offline for a 10-day scheduled maintenance period, testing Europe’s resolve to wean itself off abundant Russian fuel supplies.Despite sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine, Germany still draws 30 percent of its natural gas from Russia, much of it used to power its economically important industrial sector. Other European Union countries, including Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic, also receive gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.The pipeline’s majority owner, the Russian energy giant Gazprom, cut the flow of gas by 60 percent last month, driving energy prices to record levels. The move has forced Germany to raise its gas emergency alert level to the second of three stages — the third and final stage would permit the government to begin gas rationing — and pass a law to bail out utilit …
