Russia is preparing to use its leverage over Europe’s energy supplies to attack Europeans, Volodymyr Zelensky said as he warned Ukrainians to expect a hard winter ahead.
Leaders have sought to ease the impact of skyrocketing gas and electricity prices amid the war in Ukraine, which has seen gas exports from Russia to Germany limited.
It comes at a time when more than 600,000 Ukrainians are surviving through the war without power – with at least 235,700 people left without gas – Ukraine’s energy minister said.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out using Russia as its energy supplier, saying the Kremlin was “no longer a reliable energy partner” after the indefinite closure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
Germany is looking to completely halt its gas deliveries in December – the peak month for winter demand – and vowed to lower gas prices in addition to tying social benefits to rising inflation.
Meanwhile, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was calm on Sunday, a day after it lost external power, the UN’s inspectors said.
