The problem with that is that Putin doesn't seem to care about the damage to Russias economy and hijacking the gas pipelines is likely to do just as much damage

The problem with that is that Putin doesn't seem to care about the damage to Russias economy and hijacking the gas pipelines is likely to do just as much damage to the countries downstream. One of Gazproms local off shots managing gas reserves was recently seized in Germany, however without Gazprom delivering gas its tanks will just stay empty and they represent a not insignificant amount of our winter reserves.