On the eve of a European Union meeting to debate a gas conservation plan to make the bloc less vulnerable to a Russian squeeze, Moscow slashed the flow to Germany.
The federal government has told states to agree on urgent water cuts to ensure dams can keep generating power. Researchers say reductions once considered “unthinkable” may be necessary in the long term.
Many Russians have been in the dark about their country’s losses. As news of more Russian deaths arrives, the reactions range from anger at the Kremlin to parroting the state’s messaging that blames “Nazis’’ in Ukraine.
Dangerously dependent on Russian gas, Germany is still refusing to cut off President Putin, whose war it is effectively subsidizing to the tune of some $220 million a day.