TAG: Kremlin
Russian bombs failed to destroy Ukraine’s energy grid. Corruption could break its own
When Vladimir Putin landed in Khabarovsk on his tour of Russia’s Far East last week, he was given a...
8 months ago
US urges Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, report says
The U.S. has pressed Ukraine to halt drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, fearing that it could provoke massive retaliation and drive up global oil prices.In recent months, Kyiv has ramped up its strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, hitti...
6 months ago
Sweden drops Nord Stream sabotage probe
Sweden is ending its investigation into the mysterious explosions that blew up the undersea Nord Stream pipelines after concluding the country's courts do not have jurisdiction over the case. In a statement issued Wednesday, Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungq...
6 months ago
In historic shift, Bulgaria seeks US help to escape Russia’s nuclear grasp
Russia is losing control over Bulgaria's power grid to the last country it wants to see in Europe's lucrative energy market: the U.S.Bulgaria, which built its only nuclear power station with Soviet Union support almost 60 years ago, is now waiting on new...
6 months ago
Putin bombards Ukraine but US tells Kyiv to stop targeting Russian oil
KYIV — Russia launched a huge barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, leaving several cities without electricity and damaging the Dnipro hydropower plant, Ukraine's biggest dam.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy s...
6 months ago
Hungary’s new gas deal fuels Russia fears
Turkey's landmark gas deal with Hungary is giving Budapest a much-needed energy lifeline — but may be opening a new backdoor for Russia to re-establish its grip on Europe's power systems, analysts warn.Hungary has been searching for new gas sources as it...
6 months ago
Russia’s friends beg EU to leave frozen assets alone
BRUSSELS — Countries sympathetic to Russia are demanding the EU drop any notion it might have about a wholesale confiscation of Moscow's state assets.Representatives of China, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are privately pushing the EU to continue resisting p...
6 months ago
Expect Russia to do ‘whatever possible’ to reassert influence in Bulgaria, outgoing PM warns
Bulgaria's outgoing Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov spent his mandate trying to boot out the Russians, and has no doubt that Moscow will redouble efforts to recover its influence now his administration has collapsed. Denkov, who stepped down on Tuesday, tol...
6 months ago
France talks tough on Ukraine while gobbling up more Russian gas
BRUSSELS — Put your money where your mouth is.Such grumbling is percolating across Europe as new data reveals France quietly ramping up gas payments to Russia just as President Emmanuel Macron loudly positions himself as one of Ukraine’s staunchest defend...
6 months ago
Moldova eyes energy lever to topple Kremlin puppet regime in Transnistria
CHIȘINĂU — For the first time in three decades, Moldova thinks it finally has the leverage to kick Russia out of the country. But it comes with a quandary: how to do that without unleashing a humanitarian crisis on its own citizens.Since gaining independe...
5 months ago
EU finally ready to bring down Russia’s gas empire … sort of
For the first time since Moscow launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine more than two years ago, the EU is expected to aim its sanction bazooka at Russia’s lucrative gas sector.But the proposals on the table would only touch a fraction of the billions M...
5 months ago
Putin’s fuel problem: How Ukraine is sapping Russia’s diesel and gasoline
A wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries deep inside Russia has left the Kremlin racing to defend its own territory while still waging war on its neighbor. But the attacks have also achieved the unthinkable — leaving the world’s largest petrost...
5 months ago
Hungary teases veto over new EU Russian gas sanctions
BRUSSELS — The EU’s unprecedented effort to penalize Russia’s lucrative gas sector is already crashing into a familiar sanctions foe: Hungary. The country expressed significant reservations about the new proposal during initial conversations among ambassa...
4 months ago
Hungary facing fuel crisis as Ukraine turns up heat on Russian oil supplies
Hungary is racing against time to avoid power outages and fuel shortages after Ukraine imposed a partial ban on Russian oil passing through its territory.Kyiv last month imposed sanctions blocking the transit of pipeline crude sold by Moscow’s largest pri...
2 months ago