KIEV, Sept. 27 - Ukraine has appealed a recent court ruling obliging it to pay Russia a $390 million natural gas debt owed since the 1990s by a private gas trader owned by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Justice Ministry reported Thursday.

The appeal, submitted to the Kiev Economy Court of Appeals on Tuesday, comes after a Kiev court had ruled on September 19 the government must pay the debt owed by United Energy Systems of Ukraine to the Defense Ministry of Russia.