KYIV, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Wednesday that

the transit of Russian natural gas through its territory had

been halted as of 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), citing "national

security".

The statement by Kyiv's energy ministry comes amid the

expiration of a five-year contract between Gazprom and Ukraine's

Naftogaz.

"We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic

event," it quoted energy minister German Galushchenko as saying.