Free Republic

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

While it may seem like all eyes have been on the country since Putin launched the attack on February 24, six months down the line, a tail off in global interest has begun to set in.Zelensky, The Ukrainian president has always been aware how crucial it would be for his country's success that the attention and sympathies of Western powers (and people) were maintained - signified for example by the many speeches he has held to governments around the world, as well as ongoing public requests for financial and military support.As data from Google shows however, the war has already...

LONDON (Reuters) - Cold winters helped Moscow defeat Napoleon and Hitler. President Vladimir Putin is now betting that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong arm Ukraine into a truce -- on Russia's terms. That, say two Russian sources familiar with Kremlin thinking, is the only path to peace that Moscow sees, given Kyiv says it will not negotiate until Russia leaves all of Ukraine. "We have time, we can wait," said one source close to the Russian authorities, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media....

Six months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, signs are accumulating that the balance on the military and economic battlefields is slowly tilting the way of Kyiv and its Western backers. ... Some results of the war already seem settled. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to rewrite the ending of the Cold War by restoring Moscow’s historic sphere of influence in Eastern Europe has failed. His war on Ukraine has instead united almost all of Europe against him, revivifying the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is poised to add Sweden and Finland as new members.

Those taking the German government to task over the ongoing gas crisis have been branded the “new enemies of the state” by one government minister in the country. An ostensibly “centrist” minister in Germany has branded those looking to hold officials accountable for their chronic mismanagement of the country as the “new enemies of the state”. The minister — who is a member of former chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party — made the claim as authorities in the country begin to fear significant backlash for gas shortages in the winter, with one official saying that he is...

Now there's a growing sense that Europe might not only meet its gas targets but also exceed them... Injections to Europe’s gas storage are running about nine weeks ahead of last year... European gas storage levels are above 70%, and have even surpassed the 5-year average. By November 1st, the EU will likely hit 80% natural gas storage capacity (its goal) – in time for peak winter demand. Germany is even aiming for 95% capacity, and is already at 75%... Indeed, analysts at Standard Chartered Plc are saying that President Vladimir Putin’s gas weapon will be effectively blunted by the...

Germany's leading energy expert says she's living in a nightmare. What's worse, she saw it coming. Germany had vowed to ditch coal but is now restarting mothballed, coal-fired power stations For 15 years Claudia Kemfert says she tried to warn politicians and the public that the country was too reliant on Russian energy. Until recently Germany bought more than half of its gas from Russia. She advised Berlin to find other sources and focus more on renewables. And she warned against the construction of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline through which Germany receives much of its gas. "That's what I...

Days after taking office as Germany’s vice chancellor and economy minister in December, Robert Habeck asked his most senior officials for a detailed assessment of his country’s dependence on Russian energy. The result shocked him. The country heavily relied on Russian hydrocarbons to power vehicles and factories and heat homes, and there was no contingency plan to secure other supplies, Mr. Habeck said. The government had no viable alternative to Russian imports.

Germany wants to end all fossil fuel imports from Russia, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday. "Germany wants to completely phase out fossil fuel dependence on Russia," Baerbock told the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference. "Germany has already halved its imports in the last few weeks, especially in hard coal, and we will not only halve this in all other areas, we will also completely phase out fossil fuels that come from Russia," she added.