The EU relies on Kyiv for energy. So Russia is attacking the critical storage sites that hold Europe’s gas.

The EU relies on Kyiv for energy. So Russia is attacking the critical storage sites that hold Europe’s gas.

Just outside Kyiv is a smoking crater where one of Ukraine’s largest power plants used to be.

The bombed-out ruin of the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant — the main electricity producer for millions of people — is a symbol of a devastating shift underway in Ukraine. In recent weeks, Russia has started inflicting far more permanent damage on Ukraine’s energy system, not only taking out generating stations but even going after the vast underground gas storage facilities the EU leaned on last winter to avoid its own energy shortages.

It’s a change from the past two years, when Moscow and its invading army mostly targeted Ukraine’s energy transformers, the components that move power from one circuit to another. Such attacks were damaging, but the parts could be quickly repaired or substituted.

Now that entire power plants are in their crosshairs, the repairs are going to take years. And the storage strikes may deprive Europe of a critical backup plan.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.todayEnglish
      172·
      2 months ago

      Blame the European Nations for not taking Russia or their own security seriously enough for the past three decades.

      Yes the GOP is preventing necessary aid from the United States, and that seriously pisses me off, but this idea that Europe isn’t MORE responsible for this is absolutely enraging.

      They were warned over and over and over by literally every US Administration since Bill Clinton and they ignored it. They had a clanging wake up call in 2014 but yawned, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Angela Merkel and a whole pile of other European leaders did nothing but finger wag, chastise, and call the US ignorant war mongers all the while the problem grew and grew. Hell they were still calling the US stupid war mongers 48 hours before the invasion of Ukraine kicked off!

      They, being Western Europe, have spent literally decades playing “3 Monkeys”. THEY bear the primary responsible for its existence and the primary responsibility for its resolution. The US has some responsibility to help but the BLAME doesn’t belong to us. At all.

      • jonne@infosec.pubEnglish
        8·
        2 months ago

        Yep, this neoliberal naivité where they assume that as long as Russia gets billions of euros from you from gas sales it will motivate them to stay in line just doesn’t work. The whole globalisation project is catching the West with their pants down. Now suddenly they realise they have no energy independence and everything they buy is made in China.

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.todayEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          The Era of the I.R.B.O. is coming to a close and as it does Globalization as we know it today will dwindle and de-centralize. It only ever worked because everyone played along and chipped in to maintain it but those two conditions are increasingly untrue.