Russia ordered to strengthen its activity in Ukraine and fears of an energy crisis are growing

Russia ordered its forces to “intensify military activity” in Ukraine, amid fears of an energy crisis due to the relationship between Moscow and foreign companies involved in the maintenance of the gas pipeline carrying gas to Europe.Sergei Shoigu, Russian Defense Minister, called for intensifying operations, especially in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine. According to the ministry through a statement reproduced by the Sputnik news agency, the latter was requested “to prevent Kiev from bombing civilian infrastructure.” The Ukrainian nuclear power operator accused the Kremlin of firing missiles at the Nikopol and Dnipro regions from the occupied Zaporizhia power plant in the south of the country, where some 500 Russian troops are stationed. In March, Ukraine’s largest power plant was taken over by Russian forces shortly after the invasion that began on February 24. On the other hand, according to the AFP agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported in the last hours of the attacks in Dnipro (east), Kremenchuk (near Kiev) and the Kiev region.Also Kramatorsk, a city of the Donbass still under Ukrainian control, suffered from bombings while the city of Vinnytsia, in the center of the country, it is still trying to recover from a deadly attack last Thursday in a residential area. Meeting of Finance Ministers in Indonesia
 
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the G20 finance ministers’ meeting was held and ended without a joint communiqué, due to the lack of consensus in the discussions, dominated by the Russian offensive in Ucrania.La junta highlighted the differences between Western leaders – who denounced the impact of the war in Ukraine on inflation and the food and energy crisis – and Russia, that blamed the deterioration of the world economy on Western sanctions.Western sanctions against Russia unleashed an unprecedented crisis that raises fears of a shortage of gas in Europe, which comes through the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline.Dozens of companies abandoned business with Russia prevented by sanctions, including germany’s Siemems.Since the beginning of the war, Germany closed another Russian gas pipeline that was supposed to come online, Nord Stream 2, and is striving to reduce its dependence: 35% of German energy imports come from Russia, up from 55% before the war, in a country where more than 50% of home heating is based on gas.

Original source in Spanish