But it was unlikely the gas would reach Europe earlier than Tuesday, nearly two weeks after a gas price row broke out between Moscow and Kiev, choking supplies and raising new questions about the European Union's reliance on Russian energy.
Under an agreement brokered by the EU, Moscow and Kiev promised to restore gas flows once the monitors are in place at strategic locations along the pipeline routes from Russia, through Ukraine, to Europe.
A hitch emerged though when Russia said it had not received an official copy of the monitoring agreement signed overnight by Ukraine and the EU's Czech presidency.
The gas crisis is the latest row between the two former Soviet republics which have sparred over Ukraine's ambition to join the NATO military alliance and Russia's war in Georgia.
Ukraine accuses Russia of using its energy muscle to punish its ex-Soviet neighbours for their ambition to join the NATO alliance. Moscow says the dispute was caused by Kiev's refusal to pay a fair price for the gas it uses.
Russian President Medvedev said on Sunday Russia will only re-start gas flows to Europe via Ukraine once it has the copy of the deal and all monitors are in place.
"If those conditions are met, the resumption of transit will start," Medvedev said in a televised meeting with Igor Sechin, the deputy prime minister in charge of energy.
"The sooner those conditions are met, the easier it will be to get out of this situation which Ukraine ... created for European customers."
Once the gas taps are re-opened it is likely to be a further 36 hours before fuel reaches customers in Europe because of the time it takes for pressure to build up in the pipeline network.
The presence of monitors along the pipeline route is aimed at reassuring Moscow that Ukraine is not siphoning off gas intended for customers in Europe.
A Reuters photographer at Russia's Sudzha compressor station, near the border with Ukraine, said the monitoring team had arrived. The EU says it plans to deploy a total of five monitoring teams to sites in Russia and Ukraine.
EUROPEAN DEPENDENCY
Europe receives 80 percent of its Russian gas -- or a fifth of its total needs -- from pipelines that run via Ukraine.
European countries have questioned whether Russia and Ukraine are reliable energy partners after another pricing row in early 2006 led to short-term gas disruptions. Gazprom also halved supplies last year due to non-payment.
This time, however, western countries have been slow to support Ukraine's argument that Russia is acting as a bully. Some EU diplomats have said Kiev should share the blame for the supply disruption.
Even once gas starts flowing again to Europe, Ukraine will still be without Russian gas for its own use, though it says it has large stockpiles of fuel. The latest talks on a new contract ended without result on Saturday.
The disruptions began on New Year's Day when Gazprom cut off all supplies for Ukraine's own use after failing to reach agreement on a new gas supply contract.
Since then, a total of 18 countries have suffered problems with their gas supplies..
Eastern and central Europe have borne the brunt of the supply disruptions, with Bulgaria shutting schools because it could not heat them and Slovakia saying it would re-start a nuclear reactor which it shut down last year.
In Sofia, residents expressed anger.
"Half of Europe has become a hostage of the squabbling between Russia and Ukraine. This is pure blackmail, totally unacceptable and we should demand financial compensations," said Krasimira Dimitrova, 56.
Energy companies in the Balkans, where overnight temperatures reached as low as -17 degrees Celsius below zero, have switched to alternative fuels and other suppliers to restore heating to hundreds of thousands of homes.
Russia says it has been subsidising fuel supplies to Ukraine for years and now wants it to pay $450 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas. That is roughly in line with the price EU customers pay but a huge increase on the $179.5 Kiev paid last year.
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