A new report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has shown that Europe is emerging as 'hotspot' for arms imports.

"Europe is the new hotspot", said Siemon Wezeman, co-author of the annual report for over three decades.

"The severe deterioration in relations between most European states and Russia was an important driver of growth in European arms imports, especially for states that cannot meet all their requirements through their national arms industries."&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/zelenskyy-warns-of-attack-on-nato-soil-after-russian-airstrike-462169/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe>"We are going to increase our military spending not just by a little bit but by a lot. We need new weapons and a lot of that will come from imports", the senior researcher said, adding that the majority was likely to come from other European countries and the US.</div>

European countries spooked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are expected to beef up their militaries with fighter jets, such as the American F-35, missiles, artillery and other heavy weapons.

"Most of these things take a bit of time. You have to go through the process, you have to decide, you have to order, you have to produce. This generally takes a couple of years at least", Wezeman said.

He said the upward trend actually started after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, with the effects visible now.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/in-a-bid-to-boost-defence-export-market-india-likely-to-sell-brahmos-missiles-to-vietnam-philippines-442067">Also read |&nbsp;In a bid to boost defence export market, India likely to sell BrahMos missiles to Vietnam, Philippines</a>

Europe's share of the global arms trade has already risen from 10 to 13 percent in the past five year, and this share will increase "substantially", according to Wezeman.

Britain, Norway and the Netherlands were Europe's biggest importers, it said. Ukraine's imports of major arms were very limited in the period despite tensions with Russia in the run-up to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last month.

"Other European states are also expected to increase their arms imports significantly over the coming decade, having recently placed large orders for major arms, in particular combat aircraft from the USA," the think-tank said.

"Tensions between China and many states in Asia and Oceania are the main driver of arms imports in the region," the report's authors said in a statement.

In the Middle East, the second-largest market, accounting for 32 percent of global arms imports, the increase was three percent, driven mainly by investments in Qatar amid tensions with its Gulf neighbours.

The United States remained the world's biggest arms exporter, growing its market share to 39 per cent from 32 per cent.

SIPRI's data is based on information and estimates on international arms transfers including sales, gifts and production under licence and reflects delivery volumes, not the financial value of deals.

(With inputs from agencies)

A new report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has shown that Europe is emerging as 'hotspot' for arms imports. "Europe is the new hotspot", said Siemon Wezeman, co-author of the annual report for over three decades.

A new report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has shown that Europe is emerging as 'hotspot' for arms imports. "Europe is the new hotspot", said Siemon Wezeman, co-author of the annual report for over three decades. "The severe deterioration in relations between most European states and Russia was an important driver of growth in European arms imports, especially for states that cannot meet all their requirements through their national arms industries." "We are going to increase our military spending not just by a little bit but by a lot. We need new weapons and a lot of that will come from imports", the senior researcher said, adding that the majority was likely to come from other European countries and the US. European countries spooked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are expected to beef up their militaries with fighter jets, such as the American F-35, missiles, artillery and other heavy weapons. "Most of these things take a bit of time. You have to go through the process, you have to decide, you have to order, you have to produce. This generally takes a couple of years at least", Wezeman said. He said the upward trend actually started after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, with the effects visible now. Also read | In a bid to boost defence export market, India likely to sell BrahMos missiles to Vietnam, Philippines Europe's share of the global arms trade has already risen from 10 to 13 percent in the past five year, and this share will increase "substantially", according to Wezeman. Britain, Norway and the Netherlands were Europe's biggest importers, it said. Ukraine's imports of major arms were very limited in the period despite tensions with Russia in the run-up to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last month. "Other European states are also expected to increase their arms imports significantly over the coming decade, having recently placed large orders for major arms, in particular combat aircraft from the USA," the think-tank said. "Tensions between China and many states in Asia and Oceania are the main driver of arms imports in the region," the report's authors said in a statement. In the Middle East, the second-largest market, accounting for 32 percent of global arms imports, the increase was three percent, driven mainly by investments in Qatar amid tensions with its Gulf neighbours. The United States remained the world's biggest arms exporter, growing its market share to 39 per cent from 32 per cent. SIPRI's data is based on information and estimates on international arms transfers including sales, gifts and production under licence and reflects delivery volumes, not the financial value of deals. (With inputs from agencies)

New report reveals Europe emerging as 'hotspot' for arms imports

In the last two weeks, Europe has welcomed Ukrainian refugees with open arms. But this is in stark contrast to its treatment of Syrian refugees in 2015. On The West Asia Post, Ghadi Francis decodes the racist nature of Europe's response to this refugee crisis.

The West Asia Post | Europe welcomes Ukrainians, shuns others

Europe is jittery about sanctioning oil but it looks like this may turn into Putin's opportunity to divide the West. Russia is the world's largest producer of natural gas and the second top producer of crude oil, over the years Europe's energy reliance on Russia has become a crucial shield for Putin.

Is Europe's energy reliance on Russia Putin's shield?

The US has banned Russian oil exports. Moscow has threatened to cut gas supplies - if the oil ban goes ahead. Will Europe continue to bankroll Russia's Ukraine invasion? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: Will Europe still bankroll Russia's Ukraine invasion?

Despite the cascade of Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, one thing hasn't been affected so far – flows of Russian gas to Europe and the funds to pay for it.

Europe remains heavily dependent on Russian gas, which supplies around 40% of its needs, and is now worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use it to retaliate against sanctions. But Russia, which pumps gas through pipelines that cross Ukraine and other eastern European nations, requires the revenue, perhaps now more than ever.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/found-30-biological-labs-in-ukraine-possibly-for-bioweapons-claim-russian-forces-460189">Found 30 biological labs in Ukraine, possibly for bioweapons, claim Russian forces</a>

What is the status of this mutual dependency?

Has there been any interruption of gas supplies because of the war?

So far not. Russia has been delivering gas to Europe to fulfill long-term contracts, according to buyers such as Uniper and RWE in Germany and traders in the Baltics.

But since last year, Russia has only been delivering the contractual volumes, saying no buyer had asked for additional volumes and that it didn't have much spare gas itself. This has caused prices to spike because, in the past, Russia was usually delivering extra supplies. Prices also rose because other major producers struggled to deliver more gas amid very tight global markets and rising demand due to economic recovery from the pandemic.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/explainer-letter-z-turns-symbol-to-show-support-for-ukraines-invasion-in-russia-what-does-it-mean-460194">Explainer: Letter 'Z' turns symbol to show support for Ukraine’s invasion in Russia. What does it mean?</a>

As russian gas that flows through ukraine to europe been affected by the war?

No. Volumes of Russian gas delivered at the Slovakian border, after a roughly 800-mile journey through Ukraine, have, in fact, increased since the war began, according to data from Slovak gas transport company Eustream. Gas prices on the spot market have risen sharply, making Russian gas, which is largely sold through long-term contracts, more attractive to European buyers, analysts say.

Ukraine has banned some cross-border gas trading activities but has said it wouldn't restrict the flow of Russian gas to Europe. Inside Ukraine, however, some secondary distribution pipelines for domestic consumption have suffered damage due to shelling and air strikes, according to the country's gas pipeline operator, Gas TSO of Ukraine. In a statement, it said it was forced to halt supply to several regions, leaving hundreds of thousands of inhabitants without gas.

What will happen to the nord stream 2 russian gas pipeline project now that germany has frozen it?

Courthouses are likely the next stop for the promoters of Nord Stream 2, who may try to challenge the decision last month by Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz to halt certification of the pipeline. The project would have doubled the delivery capacity of the existing huge undersea Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project is a conduit running offshore along the same path between Russia and Germany. It is finished, but unless it is certified by Germany, it is possible it will remain unused, rusting slowly in the Baltic Sea and turning into a loss for its owner, Russia's energy giant Gazprom, as well as the five Western energy companies that shouldered its costs.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-russia-ukraine-conflict-phone-lines-internet-remain-untouched-but-why-460122">In Russia-Ukraine conflict, phone lines, internet remain untouched. But why?</a>

Resurrecting the project would require rebuilding trust between its main sponsors – the Russian and German governments – something German officials deem unlikely as long as Putin remains in the Kremlin. In what would amount to a dramatic about-face, Germany's Economy Ministry is working on a new assessment of the pipeline that may conclude that it endangers, rather than contributes to, the security of German energy supply.

What about nord stream 1? Why hasn't that pipeline project been targeted by sanctions or turned off?

Nord Stream 1, which has been delivering Russian gas for more than a decade, is currently Germany's gas lifeline. The lion's share of Russian gas comes into the country via that pipeline, so halting it would mark a serious blow to the German economy. Nord Stream 2 was different because it wasn't in service yet and so far, Germany hasn't needed additional gas supplies. Gazprom has argued it wants to build Nord Stream 2 to supply all of Germany's gas directly under the Baltic Sea rather than dealing with transit pipelines via Poland and Ukraine.&nbsp;It has repeatedly accused Ukraine of stealing gas, which Kyiv has denied.

Also read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fears-of-energy-war-between-russia-west-grows-whats-at-stake-460104">&nbsp;Fears of energy war between Russia, West grow. What’s at stake?</a>

Western nations have imposed sanctions on russia. Why hasn't russia retaliated by cutting off gas shipments to the west?

The Kremlin has said it will respond to Western sanctions but hasn't said how. But it has no immediate self-interest in cutting off gas shipments as this would deprive Russia of much needed revenue and would accelerate moves by Western countries to wean themselves off Russian gas. For decades, the Kremlin has sought to cast itself as a reliable gas supplier. Late last year, when Belarus threatened to cut off pipelines running through its territory in response to Western sanctions against Minsk, Moscow rushed to reassure its European clients that it would meet all present and future delivery commitments.

Is germany considering extending the life of some of its nuclear plants?

Germany's three remaining nuclear reactors, which supplied 12% of its gross electricity generation in 2021, are slated to be shut down this year. The country had decided to abandon nuclear power following Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.

But Germany's economy minister Robert Habeck recently floated the possibility of letting the remaining reactors operate longer.

The technical, legal and political hurdles would be formidable and nuclear power wouldn't be able to fully replace Russian gas. Extending the operation of nuclear plants would require the German parliament to change existing law which would face opposition from the Greens party.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas | Ukraine Vs Russia: The meme war

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-ukraine-vs-russia-the-meme-war-460063/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Two German nuclear plant operators - E.ON and RWE - have expressed skepticism about running them beyond Dec. 31, telling Reuters their plants' fuel would be used up by the end of 2022. However, another operator, EnBW, has said it was open to examining the possibility.

In the meantime, Germany is considering ways to reduce its dependency on Russian gas, including by accelerating construction of terminals to receive non-Russian liquefied natural gas, or LNG, and postponing the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants that had been scheduled for closure. In recent months it has increased its use of coal.

Despite the cascade of Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, one thing hasn't been affected so far – flows of Russian gas to Europe and the funds to pay for it.

Despite the cascade of Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, one thing hasn't been affected so far – flows of Russian gas to Europe and the funds to pay for it. Europe remains heavily dependent on Russian gas, which supplies around 40% of its needs, and is now worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use it to retaliate against sanctions. But Russia, which pumps gas through pipelines that cross Ukraine and other eastern European nations, requires the revenue, perhaps now more than ever. Also read | Found 30 biological labs in Ukraine, possibly for bioweapons, claim Russian forces What is the status of this mutual dependency? Has there been any interruption of gas supplies because of the war? So far not. Russia has been delivering gas to Europe to fulfill long-term contracts, according to buyers such as Uniper and RWE in Germany and traders in the Baltics. But since last year, Russia has only been delivering the contractual volumes, saying no buyer had asked for additional volumes and that it didn't have much spare gas itself. This has caused prices to spike because, in the past, Russia was usually delivering extra supplies. Prices also rose because other major producers struggled to deliver more gas amid very tight global markets and rising demand due to economic recovery from the pandemic. Also read | Explainer: Letter 'Z' turns symbol to show support for Ukraine’s invasion in Russia. What does it mean? As russian gas that flows through ukraine to europe been affected by the war? No. Volumes of Russian gas delivered at the Slovakian border, after a roughly 800-mile journey through Ukraine, have, in fact, increased since the war began, according to data from Slovak gas transport company Eustream. Gas prices on the spot market have risen sharply, making Russian gas, which is largely sold through long-term contracts, more attractive to European buyers, analysts say. Ukraine has banned some cross-border gas trading activities but has said it wouldn't restrict the flow of Russian gas to Europe. Inside Ukraine, however, some secondary distribution pipelines for domestic consumption have suffered damage due to shelling and air strikes, according to the country's gas pipeline operator, Gas TSO of Ukraine. In a statement, it said it was forced to halt supply to several regions, leaving hundreds of thousands of inhabitants without gas. What will happen to the nord stream 2 russian gas pipeline project now that germany has frozen it? Courthouses are likely the next stop for the promoters of Nord Stream 2, who may try to challenge the decision last month by Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz to halt certification of the pipeline. The project would have doubled the delivery capacity of the existing huge undersea Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project is a conduit running offshore along the same path between Russia and Germany. It is finished, but unless it is certified by Germany, it is possible it will remain unused, rusting slowly in the Baltic Sea and turning into a loss for its owner, Russia's energy giant Gazprom, as well as the five Western energy companies that shouldered its costs. Also read | In Russia-Ukraine conflict, phone lines, internet remain untouched. But why? Resurrecting the project would require rebuilding trust between its main sponsors – the Russian and German governments – something German officials deem unlikely as long as Putin remains in the Kremlin. In what would amount to a dramatic about-face, Germany's Economy Ministry is working on a new assessment of the pipeline that may conclude that it endangers, rather than contributes to, the security of German energy supply. What about nord stream 1? Why hasn't that pipeline project been targeted by sanctions or turned off? Nord Stream 1, which has been delivering Russian gas for more than a decade, is currently Germany's gas lifeline. The lion's share of Russian gas comes into the country via that pipeline, so halting it would mark a serious blow to the German economy. Nord Stream 2 was different because it wasn't in service yet and so far, Germany hasn't needed additional gas supplies. Gazprom has argued it wants to build Nord Stream 2 to supply all of Germany's gas directly under the Baltic Sea rather than dealing with transit pipelines via Poland and Ukraine. It has repeatedly accused Ukraine of stealing gas, which Kyiv has denied. Also read | Fears of energy war between Russia, West grow. What’s at stake? Western nations have imposed sanctions on russia. Why hasn't russia retaliated by cutting off gas shipments to the west? The Kremlin has said it will respond to Western sanctions but hasn't said how. But it has no immediate self-interest in cutting off gas shipments as this would deprive Russia of much needed revenue and would accelerate moves by Western countries to wean themselves off Russian gas. For decades, the Kremlin has sought to cast itself as a reliable gas supplier. Late last year, when Belarus threatened to cut off pipelines running through its territory in response to Western sanctions against Minsk, Moscow rushed to reassure its European clients that it would meet all present and future delivery commitments. Is germany considering extending the life of some of its nuclear plants? Germany's three remaining nuclear reactors, which supplied 12% of its gross electricity generation in 2021, are slated to be shut down this year. The country had decided to abandon nuclear power following Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster. But Germany's economy minister Robert Habeck recently floated the possibility of letting the remaining reactors operate longer. The technical, legal and political hurdles would be formidable and nuclear power wouldn't be able to fully replace Russian gas. Extending the operation of nuclear plants would require the German parliament to change existing law which would face opposition from the Greens party. Watch | Gravitas | Ukraine Vs Russia: The meme war Two German nuclear plant operators - E.ON and RWE - have expressed skepticism about running them beyond Dec. 31, telling Reuters their plants' fuel would be used up by the end of 2022. However, another operator, EnBW, has said it was open to examining the possibility. In the meantime, Germany is considering ways to reduce its dependency on Russian gas, including by accelerating construction of terminals to receive non-Russian liquefied natural gas, or LNG, and postponing the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants that had been scheduled for closure. In recent months it has increased its use of coal.

Explainer: Is the war in Ukraine impacting Russian gas supplies to Europe?

It took one electricity bill to crush Dimitris Diavatis' hopes that his Greek summer resort could bounce back to its pre-pandemic health this year, even with bookings pouring in.

The amount was more than double what he paid this time last year when the hotel was not even open. After two sluggish summers, the irony was not lost on him: "We won't make a profit in a good year," he said. "It'll be eaten up by inflation."

Greece - like the other&nbsp;tourism-dependent economies on the euro zone's Mediterranean fringe – is seeing signs of a much-needed recovery in visitor numbers in 2022 after two largely lost years. As in Spain, Portugal and Italy, the sector is a huge employer and contributor to state revenues.

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But across the region, the pandemic has changed the&nbsp;face&nbsp;of&nbsp;tourism. Hotels were already grappling with higher fuel bills and inflation which a further energy price surge in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will only make worse.

The dislocation of labour markets caused by COVID-19 has left entrenched staffing shortages, while Italian tourist officials concede that pandemic-era holidaying – with its emphasis on hygiene, cleanliness and space – is a big challenge for its ageing infrastructure.

Meanwhile, a market for more modest, small-scale vacations is opening up: In Spain and Portugal, a reluctance among many tourists to travel far is accentuating the trend for stays in rural areas in tents, campers or motorhomes.Industry and government officials in Greece are forecasting revenues will reach 80-90% of the record seen in 2019, when 33 million tourists brought in 18 billion euros in revenues, worth a fifth of national output.

Yet a bumper season is unlikely to offer much relief to struggling businesses which emerged from a decade-long financial crisis in 2018 only to have the pandemic bring global travel to a halt two years later.

So acute is the problem of soaring heating oil, gas and electricity prices that the president of the Greek&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;confederation SETE, Yiannis Retsos, wrote to ministers in January urging them to provide financial support, saying it was "objectively impossible" for year-round hotels to the cover their costs, especially after the quieter winter months.

The highly indebted countries of&nbsp;Europe's south were also bracing for the&nbsp;European Central Bank to remove the stimulus that has kept their borrowing costs down.

Although the Ukraine war has left the interest rate outlook uncertain, the&nbsp;southern&nbsp;fringe still badly needs its&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;sectors to get back to work given the economic hit the conflict is set to deliver.

Speaking a day after the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation", Greece's Retsos said it was too early to gauge its impact on the&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;sector.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/radio-free-europe-with-roots-in-the-cold-war-suspends-operations-in-russia-459548">Radio Free Europe, with roots in the Cold War, suspends operations in Russia</a>

More than a week into the conflict, there has been no noticeable increase in cancellations across the region.

Russian tourists only make up a very small proportion of the sector in&nbsp;southern&nbsp;Europe&nbsp;- 2% of revenues in Greece in 2019 and around 1% of nightly hotel bookings in Portugal. Turkey - outside the&nbsp;European Union - is a more popular destination.

But with&nbsp;European gas prices already at record highs, and this likely to feed into inflation globally, the concern in countries like Greece is the conflict will only worsen an already bleak outlook, further crimping guests' spending power and increasing providers' costs.

NO END TO COSTS

Even hotels that were shut during winter worry they will not be able to shoulder the extra burden, having already agreed prices with tour operators last summer, said Babbis Voulgaris, head of the Corfu hoteliers' association.

Resort owner Diavatis, who also owns a year-round boutique hotel and a waterpark complex on the island, agreed.

"This will be a real crisis for us," he said. "I won't say it's worse than the pandemic because at least we're open. But we didn't lose money then. Now we're heading towards losing money."

The Greek government has spent over 42 billion euros in pandemic support measures since 2020 to keep businesses and households afloat and about 2 billion euros since September to subsidise power bills through March. For hoteliers, the support does not go far enough.

"In the summer, with the air-conditioners working, the refrigerators, the kitchen, everything - I don't how when this will end," said Costas Merianos, who owns a small family-run hotel on Corfu's Ionian coast.

Across the sea in Italy, lockdowns and energy prices have forced many hotels to shut for good, said Marina Lalli, president of the Federturismo industry association.

And while Lalli was hopeful&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;could inch closer to 2019 levels this year, Italy&nbsp;faces the additional problem of being "a mature tourist destination with mature hotel structures that need to be renewed," she said.

"In the post-COVID era, tourists are even more attentive to quality, they want a guarantee of cleanliness and want to feel safe."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/invading-russian-military-forces-belt-maker-to-weave-camouflage-webbing-for-ukrainian-troops-459565">Invading Russian military forces belt-maker to weave camouflage webbing for Ukrainian troops</a>

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Greece said it was opening its&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;season as early as March 1 this year to meet demand but, like in Italy, Spain and Portugal, the season will not begin in earnest until the Easter break in April, a litmus test before the vital summer months.

Both Greece and Italy are racing to fill job shortages as the pandemic forced workers abroad for better paying jobs or into different sectors with less uncertain prospects.

In Greece, the&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;minister even appealed to refugees fleeing Ukraine, offering them residence and work permits to fill 50,000 job gaps in hospitality.

Demand for Spanish holidays was looking very strong this year, according to the vice-president of industry association Exceltur, Jose Luis Zoreda, thanks to Spain's high vaccination rates and the easing of pandemic restrictions in its big markets, the UK and Germany.

"There is a strong, accumulated travel appetite in&nbsp;Europe," Zoreda said, forecasting an "explosion" of&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;from Easter onwards, but also lower profit margins due to inflation and energy prices.

Exceltur, however, also found tourists were seeking a different experience. In 2021, campsite rentals were up 19.2%, flat rentals were up by 16%, rural homes by 11%. Hotel usage fell by 8%, a decline also driven by fewer business trips.

In January, new motorhomes and camper vans sales were up 34.1% on an annual basis, according to the Spanish Association of the Caravanning Industry and Trade (ASEICAR).

"The 'all-in-one' holiday model has been left behind," Yescapa, an online motorhomes and camper vans rental company, told Reuters.

Nico Aro, who rents out a camper van on the island of Tenerife, says he has not been able to enjoy it himself since he bought it last March because requests keep coming in from Italy, France and Belgium. His biggest problem is that he cannot find another one to buy because they are in great demand.

"I have benefited from the pandemic," he said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chile-creates-national-park-to-save-glaciers-459542">Chile creates national park to save glaciers</a>

The appetite for "slower"&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;has also grown in Portugal, where the sector played a crucial role in its recovery from the 2010 debt crisis.&nbsp;Tourism&nbsp;stood at about 15% of GDP in 2019 but fell to 8% in 2020.

"There's an increasing number of people looking for places with fewer people," said Helder Martins, president of Algarve's main hotel association. "I don't believe that they will return to just wanting the sun and the beach."&nbsp;

The centuries-old "schist villages", built from the stone of a mountainous region clad in pine trees, are roaring back to life after being abandoned over the years by young Portuguese seeking work elsewhere.

"This summer is filling up fast," said Sonia Cortes, who owns a small five-room hotel in the Janeiro de Cima schist village, where construction workers are rebuilding traditional houses.

"The beginning of the pandemic was really difficult for those who lived off&nbsp;tourism," she said. "(But then) those in bigger cities looked for villages like this one where they could feel safe."

There was a 30% increase in the number of night stays at schist villages from 2019 to 2020-21, said Bruno Ramos, who works for an agency promoting&nbsp;tourism&nbsp;there.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: Ukraine invasion: Europe's largest nuke site was on fire

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-ukraine-invasion-europes-largest-nuke-site-was-on-fire-459083/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Still, back in Greece, Merianos, the Corfu hotel owner, has a more sober view of the months ahead.

"I'll be happy if at the end of the season I don't owe my staff, I don't owe the state, I don't owe the energy provider - even if I'm left with 10 euros in my wallet," he said.

It took one electricity bill to crush Dimitris Diavatis' hopes that his Greek summer resort could bounce back to its pre-pandemic health this year, even with bookings pouring in.

It took one electricity bill to crush Dimitris Diavatis' hopes that his Greek summer resort could bounce back to its pre-pandemic health this year, even with bookings pouring in. The amount was more than double what he paid this time last year when the hotel was not even open. After two sluggish summers, the irony was not lost on him: "We won't make a profit in a good year," he said. "It'll be eaten up by inflation." Greece - like the other tourism-dependent economies on the euro zone's Mediterranean fringe – is seeing signs of a much-needed recovery in visitor numbers in 2022 after two largely lost years. As in Spain, Portugal and Italy, the sector is a huge employer and contributor to state revenues. Also read | London: Hundreds of women march in a bid to end violence and misogyny But across the region, the pandemic has changed the face of tourism. Hotels were already grappling with higher fuel bills and inflation which a further energy price surge in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will only make worse. The dislocation of labour markets caused by COVID-19 has left entrenched staffing shortages, while Italian tourist officials concede that pandemic-era holidaying – with its emphasis on hygiene, cleanliness and space – is a big challenge for its ageing infrastructure. Meanwhile, a market for more modest, small-scale vacations is opening up: In Spain and Portugal, a reluctance among many tourists to travel far is accentuating the trend for stays in rural areas in tents, campers or motorhomes.Industry and government officials in Greece are forecasting revenues will reach 80-90% of the record seen in 2019, when 33 million tourists brought in 18 billion euros in revenues, worth a fifth of national output. Yet a bumper season is unlikely to offer much relief to struggling businesses which emerged from a decade-long financial crisis in 2018 only to have the pandemic bring global travel to a halt two years later. So acute is the problem of soaring heating oil, gas and electricity prices that the president of the Greek tourism confederation SETE, Yiannis Retsos, wrote to ministers in January urging them to provide financial support, saying it was "objectively impossible" for year-round hotels to the cover their costs, especially after the quieter winter months. The highly indebted countries of Europe's south were also bracing for the European Central Bank to remove the stimulus that has kept their borrowing costs down. Although the Ukraine war has left the interest rate outlook uncertain, the southern fringe still badly needs its tourism sectors to get back to work given the economic hit the conflict is set to deliver. Speaking a day after the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation", Greece's Retsos said it was too early to gauge its impact on the tourism sector. Also read | Radio Free Europe, with roots in the Cold War, suspends operations in Russia More than a week into the conflict, there has been no noticeable increase in cancellations across the region. Russian tourists only make up a very small proportion of the sector in southern Europe - 2% of revenues in Greece in 2019 and around 1% of nightly hotel bookings in Portugal. Turkey - outside the European Union - is a more popular destination. But with European gas prices already at record highs, and this likely to feed into inflation globally, the concern in countries like Greece is the conflict will only worsen an already bleak outlook, further crimping guests' spending power and increasing providers' costs. NO END TO COSTS Even hotels that were shut during winter worry they will not be able to shoulder the extra burden, having already agreed prices with tour operators last summer, said Babbis Voulgaris, head of the Corfu hoteliers' association. Resort owner Diavatis, who also owns a year-round boutique hotel and a waterpark complex on the island, agreed. "This will be a real crisis for us," he said. "I won't say it's worse than the pandemic because at least we're open. But we didn't lose money then. Now we're heading towards losing money." The Greek government has spent over 42 billion euros in pandemic support measures since 2020 to keep businesses and households afloat and about 2 billion euros since September to subsidise power bills through March. For hoteliers, the support does not go far enough. "In the summer, with the air-conditioners working, the refrigerators, the kitchen, everything - I don't how when this will end," said Costas Merianos, who owns a small family-run hotel on Corfu's Ionian coast. Across the sea in Italy, lockdowns and energy prices have forced many hotels to shut for good, said Marina Lalli, president of the Federturismo industry association. And while Lalli was hopeful tourism could inch closer to 2019 levels this year, Italy faces the additional problem of being "a mature tourist destination with mature hotel structures that need to be renewed," she said. "In the post-COVID era, tourists are even more attentive to quality, they want a guarantee of cleanliness and want to feel safe." Also read | Invading Russian military forces belt-maker to weave camouflage webbing for Ukrainian troops SOMETHING DIFFERENT Greece said it was opening its tourism season as early as March 1 this year to meet demand but, like in Italy, Spain and Portugal, the season will not begin in earnest until the Easter break in April, a litmus test before the vital summer months. Both Greece and Italy are racing to fill job shortages as the pandemic forced workers abroad for better paying jobs or into different sectors with less uncertain prospects. In Greece, the tourism minister even appealed to refugees fleeing Ukraine, offering them residence and work permits to fill 50,000 job gaps in hospitality. Demand for Spanish holidays was looking very strong this year, according to the vice-president of industry association Exceltur, Jose Luis Zoreda, thanks to Spain's high vaccination rates and the easing of pandemic restrictions in its big markets, the UK and Germany. "There is a strong, accumulated travel appetite in Europe," Zoreda said, forecasting an "explosion" of tourism from Easter onwards, but also lower profit margins due to inflation and energy prices. Exceltur, however, also found tourists were seeking a different experience. In 2021, campsite rentals were up 19.2%, flat rentals were up by 16%, rural homes by 11%. Hotel usage fell by 8%, a decline also driven by fewer business trips. In January, new motorhomes and camper vans sales were up 34.1% on an annual basis, according to the Spanish Association of the Caravanning Industry and Trade (ASEICAR). "The 'all-in-one' holiday model has been left behind," Yescapa, an online motorhomes and camper vans rental company, told Reuters. Nico Aro, who rents out a camper van on the island of Tenerife, says he has not been able to enjoy it himself since he bought it last March because requests keep coming in from Italy, France and Belgium. His biggest problem is that he cannot find another one to buy because they are in great demand. "I have benefited from the pandemic," he said. Also read | Chile creates national park to save glaciers The appetite for "slower" tourism has also grown in Portugal, where the sector played a crucial role in its recovery from the 2010 debt crisis. Tourism stood at about 15% of GDP in 2019 but fell to 8% in 2020. "There's an increasing number of people looking for places with fewer people," said Helder Martins, president of Algarve's main hotel association. "I don't believe that they will return to just wanting the sun and the beach." The centuries-old "schist villages", built from the stone of a mountainous region clad in pine trees, are roaring back to life after being abandoned over the years by young Portuguese seeking work elsewhere. "This summer is filling up fast," said Sonia Cortes, who owns a small five-room hotel in the Janeiro de Cima schist village, where construction workers are rebuilding traditional houses. "The beginning of the pandemic was really difficult for those who lived off tourism," she said. "(But then) those in bigger cities looked for villages like this one where they could feel safe." There was a 30% increase in the number of night stays at schist villages from 2019 to 2020-21, said Bruno Ramos, who works for an agency promoting tourism there. Watch | Gravitas: Ukraine invasion: Europe's largest nuke site was on fire Still, back in Greece, Merianos, the Corfu hotel owner, has a more sober view of the months ahead. "I'll be happy if at the end of the season I don't owe my staff, I don't owe the state, I don't owe the energy provider - even if I'm left with 10 euros in my wallet," he said.

Southern Europe grapples with changing face of tourism

Many parts of Europe have been knocked off the internet after it encountered massive “cyberattacks” at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, news agency AFP reports.

According to telecom company Orange, around 9,000 users of its satellite internet service are without internet following a "cyber event" on February 24 at Viasat, a US satellite operator of which it is a client.

The same was witnessed by one-third of 40,000 subscribers of Eutelsat, the parent company of the bigblu satellite internet service.

According to reports, the outage was felt in Germany, France, Hungary, Greece, Italy and Poland. &nbsp;

On Wednesday,&nbsp;Viasat said that a “cyber event” had caused a "partial network outage" for customers "in Ukraine and elsewhere" in Europe who rely on its KA-SAT satellite.

So far there is no evidence suggesting which country was behind the cyberattacks, with Viasat only saying that “police and state partners” had been notified and were assisting with investigations.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukrainian-foreign-minister-dmytro-kuleba-accuses-lavrov-of-spreading-misinformation-459024">Ukrainian invasion: Dmytro Kuleba accuses Lavrov of spreading misinformation</a>

Chief of France's Space Command General Michel Friedling confirmed that there had been a cyberattack on a civilian network —Viasat.

"For several days, shortly after the start of operations, we have had a satellite network that covers Europe and Ukraine in particular, which was the victim of a cyberattack, with tens of thousands of terminals that were rendered inoperative immediately after the attack," AFP quoted Friedling as saying.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eu-ready-to-take-further-severe-measures-if-putin-does-not-stop-459082" hreflang="en">EU ready to take 'further severe measures if Putin does not stop'</a>

It is being reported that around 5,800 wind turbines in Germany and Central Europe—which has a combined output of 11 gigawatts—were also affected by the cyberattacks.

In Russia, institutional websites were made inaccessible from abroad, to protect them from denial of service (DOS) attacks that regularly rendered them inoperable.

(With inputs from agencies)

Many parts of Europe have been knocked off the internet after it encountered massive “cyberattacks” at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, news agency AFP reports.

Many parts of Europe have been knocked off the internet after it encountered massive “cyberattacks” at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, news agency AFP reports. According to telecom company Orange, around 9,000 users of its satellite internet service are without internet following a "cyber event" on February 24 at Viasat, a US satellite operator of which it is a client. The same was witnessed by one-third of 40,000 subscribers of Eutelsat, the parent company of the bigblu satellite internet service. According to reports, the outage was felt in Germany, France, Hungary, Greece, Italy and Poland. On Wednesday, Viasat said that a “cyber event” had caused a "partial network outage" for customers "in Ukraine and elsewhere" in Europe who rely on its KA-SAT satellite. So far there is no evidence suggesting which country was behind the cyberattacks, with Viasat only saying that “police and state partners” had been notified and were assisting with investigations. Also read | Ukrainian invasion: Dmytro Kuleba accuses Lavrov of spreading misinformation Chief of France's Space Command General Michel Friedling confirmed that there had been a cyberattack on a civilian network —Viasat. "For several days, shortly after the start of operations, we have had a satellite network that covers Europe and Ukraine in particular, which was the victim of a cyberattack, with tens of thousands of terminals that were rendered inoperative immediately after the attack," AFP quoted Friedling as saying. Also read | EU ready to take 'further severe measures if Putin does not stop' It is being reported that around 5,800 wind turbines in Germany and Central Europe—which has a combined output of 11 gigawatts—were also affected by the cyberattacks. In Russia, institutional websites were made inaccessible from abroad, to protect them from denial of service (DOS) attacks that regularly rendered them inoperable. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Cyber Armageddon’ in Europe: Thousands go offline following Russia-Ukraine war, says report

The Russian invasion into Ukraine has displaced more than a million people with millions more at risk The European Union nations have been pretty swift in their response to the Ukrainians who are crossing over the border from Ukraine into the neighbouring nations.

Europe's bias of Ukrainian: Middle east refugees still seek shelter

After continuous Russian shelling, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Friday. &nbsp;

The minister has also called for the creation of a security zone so that firefighters can tackle the incident. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/military-operation-going-according-to-plan-says-putin-as-casualties-mount-in-chernihiv-458708">Military operation going according to plan, says Putin</a>

At the plant, a generating unit has been hit in an attack by Russian troops. Due to this, a part of the station is currently on fire, RIA news agency reported, citing Ukrainian atomic energy ministry on Friday. &nbsp;

The background levels of radiation had not changed, a plant spokesperson told RIA. &nbsp;

On Twitter, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote, "Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire has already broke out ... Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!" &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amid-ukraine-crisis-georgia-formally-applies-for-eu-membership-458685">Amid Ukraine crisis, Georgia formally applies for EU membership</a>

In a tweet, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that it was "aware of reports of shelling" at the power plant and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities about situation.

In an online post, mayor of the town of Energodar said that there has been fierce fighting in the area, which is about 550 kilometers (342 miles) southeast of Kyiv. &nbsp;&nbsp;

There had been casualties, he said, without giving details. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

After continuous Russian shelling, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Friday. The minister has also called for the creation of a security zone so that firefighters can tackle the incident.

After continuous Russian shelling, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Friday. The minister has also called for the creation of a security zone so that firefighters can tackle the incident. Also Read: Military operation going according to plan, says Putin At the plant, a generating unit has been hit in an attack by Russian troops. Due to this, a part of the station is currently on fire, RIA news agency reported, citing Ukrainian atomic energy ministry on Friday. The background levels of radiation had not changed, a plant spokesperson told RIA. On Twitter, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote, "Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire has already broke out ... Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!" Also Read: Amid Ukraine crisis, Georgia formally applies for EU membership In a tweet, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that it was "aware of reports of shelling" at the power plant and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities about situation. In an online post, mayor of the town of Energodar said that there has been fierce fighting in the area, which is about 550 kilometers (342 miles) southeast of Kyiv. There had been casualties, he said, without giving details. (With inputs from agencies)

Russian shelling sets largest nuclear power plant in Europe on fire, says Ukraine's minister

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced some one million people with millions more at risk. The European Union nations have been swift in their response to the Ukrainians crossing over this reaction of the European countries is now pushing millions of West-Asian refugees who are still waiting for protection and asylum for over a decade.

Europe's contradictory approach to Ukrainian and Syrian refugees?

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine.

“Nobody here trusted the Russians before and we certainly don’t trust them now,” said Mieczyslaw Zuk, a former Polish soldier who oversees the once top-secret nuclear site. The bunkers were abandoned by the Soviet military in 1990 as Moscow’s hegemony over East and Central Europe unraveled in what Putin has described as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Now Eastern European countries fear a catastrophe of their own could be in the making, as Putin seeks to turn back the clock and reclaim Russia’s lost sphere of influence, perilously close to their frontiers. Even leaders in the region who have long supported Putin are sounding the alarm.

Warnings about Moscow’s intentions, often dismissed until the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as “Russophobia” by those without the experience of living in proximity to Russia, are now widely accepted as prescient. And while there has been debate about whether efforts to expand NATO into the former Soviet bloc were a provocation to Putin, his assault on Ukraine has left countries that joined the U.S.-led military alliance convinced they made the right decision.

A Russian attack on Poland or other former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact that now belong to NATO is still highly unlikely, but Putin has “made the unthinkable possible,” warned Gabrielus Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, Poland’s neighbor to the north.

“We live in a new reality. If Putin is not stopped he will go further,” Landsbergis said. His country, bordering both Russia and its ally Belarus, has declared a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland gave his own warning of perhaps worse to come. “We should be under no illusions: This could be just the beginning,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “Tomorrow Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, could be next in line.”

Fear that Putin is capable of just about anything, even using nuclear weapons, is just “common sense,” said Toomas Ilves, a former president of Estonia.

Ilves announced this week on Twitter that he was “accepting apologies” for all the “patronizing nonsense from Western Europeans” who complained that “we Estonians were paranoid about Russian behavior.”

In a telephone interview, Ilves said he had not received any apologies yet but was gratified to see Russia’s “shills and useful idiots getting their comeuppance.”

Western Europeans who once scoffed at his dark view of Russia, he added, “have suddenly become East Europeans” in their fearful attitudes. “This past week marks the end of a 30-year-long error that we can all come together and sing kumbaya.”

Memories of Soviet hegemony over what is now NATO’s eastern flank — imposed after the Red Army liberated the region from Nazi occupation at the end of World War II — vary from country to country depending on history, geography and convoluted domestic political struggles.

For Poland, a nation repeatedly invaded by Russia over the centuries, they are of humiliation and oppression. Baltic states, extinguished as independent nations by Stalin in 1940 and dragooned at gunpoint into the Soviet Union, feel much the same way.

Others have fonder recollections, particularly Bulgaria, where pro-Russian sentiment has long run deep, at least until last week, and Serbia, which has for centuries seen Russia as its protector.

Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel, however, has united the region in alarm, with even Serbia voicing dismay. On Monday, Bulgaria’s prime minister fired his defense minister, who caused outrage by suggesting that the conflict in Ukraine should not be called a war but “a special military operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its invasion.

Only Milorad Dodik, the belligerent, pro-Kremlin leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbian enclave, Republika Srpska, has shown any sympathy for Putin’s war, stating that Russia’s reasons for its invasion “were received with understanding.”

Outrage over Russian aggression, even in countries historically sympathetic to Moscow, has derailed years of work by Russian diplomats and intelligence operatives to cultivate allies like Ataka, an ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria that is so close to Russia that it once launched its election campaign in Moscow.

Even Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who usually delights in defying fellow European leaders and stood with Putin last month in the Kremlin, has now endorsed a raft of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European bloc. He is still blocking transport of weapons into Ukraine across Hungary’s border but has curbed his previously gushing enthusiasm for Putin.

So, too, has Milos Zeman, the previously Kremlin-friendly president of the Czech Republic. “I admit I was wrong,” Zeman said this week.

In Poland, traditionally one of the most anti-Russian countries in the region, the populist governing party, Law and Justice, has gone almost overnight from aligning itself with Moscow in its hostility to LGBTQ rights and the defense of traditional values to becoming one of Putin’s most robust critics, offering its territory for the delivery of weapons into Ukraine and taking in more than 450,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war.

Gas stations and ATMs in southeastern Poland along the border with Ukraine have been besieged in recent days by people worried that they might need to get out fast. That possibility hit home Monday evening when missiles slammed into a Ukrainian village just a few miles from the frontier, rattling windows in nearby houses on the Polish side.

Just two weeks before Russian troops poured into Ukraine, Poland’s prime minister joined Orban and Marine Le Pen, the far-right French presidential candidate who has frequently spoken up for Russia, at a meeting in Madrid focused on attacking the European Union and its liberal attitudes on immigration.

In recent days, however, Morawiecki has dropped the hostility to the European bloc to focus instead on opposing the Kremlin. He has lobbied for tough sanctions on Russia, traveling to Berlin to personally “shake Germany’s conscience” and nudge it toward a dramatic U-turn in its policy toward Russia. On a recent visit to Warsaw, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed Poland as “one of our most stalwart allies.”

On Friday, Poland hosted a summit meeting with nine regional leaders to rally opposition to Russia’s invasion and discuss ways to help Ukraine. “We have woken up to a completely new reality,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told the gathering, lamenting that it had taken a Russian invasion to interrupt “the peaceful sleep of wealthy Europeans.”

A nation of Slavs like Ukraine, Poland has long been viewed as a wayward family member by more messianic-minded Russian nationalists, whose views Putin channeled last week in his justification for the war. Russia’s foreign minister recently sneered at Poland and other new NATO members as “territories orphaned” by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.

To demonstrate that Poland has no desire to rejoin what Moscow imagines as its happy, obedient but sadly divided family, the mayor of Warsaw announced Tuesday that refugees from Ukraine would be housed in apartment blocks built during the Cold War to house Soviet diplomats and left abandoned since because of legal disputes over ownership.

Few people expect Russia to try to bring Poles back into a Moscow-dominated Slavic “family” by force, as it is now trying to do with Ukrainians. Doing that, said Tomasz Smura, director of research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a research group in Warsaw, “would mean that Putin has gone totally mad.”

At the former Soviet warhead bunker in Podborsko, northwestern Poland, Zuk said he never really expected the Russians to try to retake their lost, Soviet-era military outposts. But he still wondered why, just before pulling out of Podobsko with its nuclear weapons, the Soviet military drew up a maintenance schedule for cranes used to lift warheads and other equipment at the facility stretching years into the future.

“It seems they did not think they were leaving forever,” Zuk said, standing in a cavernous underground hall once crammed with warheads and long off limits to all but Soviet officers. In its attitude toward Poland, he added, Russia has always acted “like a master toward a servant,” a relationship that it is now trying to impose on Ukraine. “I worry that Putin may want to get hold of Poland and the Baltic states, too,” he said. 
&nbsp;

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine.

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine. “Nobody here trusted the Russians before and we certainly don’t trust them now,” said Mieczyslaw Zuk, a former Polish soldier who oversees the once top-secret nuclear site. The bunkers were abandoned by the Soviet military in 1990 as Moscow’s hegemony over East and Central Europe unraveled in what Putin has described as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Now Eastern European countries fear a catastrophe of their own could be in the making, as Putin seeks to turn back the clock and reclaim Russia’s lost sphere of influence, perilously close to their frontiers. Even leaders in the region who have long supported Putin are sounding the alarm. Warnings about Moscow’s intentions, often dismissed until the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as “Russophobia” by those without the experience of living in proximity to Russia, are now widely accepted as prescient. And while there has been debate about whether efforts to expand NATO into the former Soviet bloc were a provocation to Putin, his assault on Ukraine has left countries that joined the U.S.-led military alliance convinced they made the right decision. A Russian attack on Poland or other former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact that now belong to NATO is still highly unlikely, but Putin has “made the unthinkable possible,” warned Gabrielus Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, Poland’s neighbor to the north. “We live in a new reality. If Putin is not stopped he will go further,” Landsbergis said. His country, bordering both Russia and its ally Belarus, has declared a state of emergency. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland gave his own warning of perhaps worse to come. “We should be under no illusions: This could be just the beginning,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “Tomorrow Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, could be next in line.” Fear that Putin is capable of just about anything, even using nuclear weapons, is just “common sense,” said Toomas Ilves, a former president of Estonia. Ilves announced this week on Twitter that he was “accepting apologies” for all the “patronizing nonsense from Western Europeans” who complained that “we Estonians were paranoid about Russian behavior.” In a telephone interview, Ilves said he had not received any apologies yet but was gratified to see Russia’s “shills and useful idiots getting their comeuppance.” Western Europeans who once scoffed at his dark view of Russia, he added, “have suddenly become East Europeans” in their fearful attitudes. “This past week marks the end of a 30-year-long error that we can all come together and sing kumbaya.” Memories of Soviet hegemony over what is now NATO’s eastern flank — imposed after the Red Army liberated the region from Nazi occupation at the end of World War II — vary from country to country depending on history, geography and convoluted domestic political struggles. For Poland, a nation repeatedly invaded by Russia over the centuries, they are of humiliation and oppression. Baltic states, extinguished as independent nations by Stalin in 1940 and dragooned at gunpoint into the Soviet Union, feel much the same way. Others have fonder recollections, particularly Bulgaria, where pro-Russian sentiment has long run deep, at least until last week, and Serbia, which has for centuries seen Russia as its protector. Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel, however, has united the region in alarm, with even Serbia voicing dismay. On Monday, Bulgaria’s prime minister fired his defense minister, who caused outrage by suggesting that the conflict in Ukraine should not be called a war but “a special military operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its invasion. Only Milorad Dodik, the belligerent, pro-Kremlin leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbian enclave, Republika Srpska, has shown any sympathy for Putin’s war, stating that Russia’s reasons for its invasion “were received with understanding.” Outrage over Russian aggression, even in countries historically sympathetic to Moscow, has derailed years of work by Russian diplomats and intelligence operatives to cultivate allies like Ataka, an ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria that is so close to Russia that it once launched its election campaign in Moscow. Even Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who usually delights in defying fellow European leaders and stood with Putin last month in the Kremlin, has now endorsed a raft of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European bloc. He is still blocking transport of weapons into Ukraine across Hungary’s border but has curbed his previously gushing enthusiasm for Putin. So, too, has Milos Zeman, the previously Kremlin-friendly president of the Czech Republic. “I admit I was wrong,” Zeman said this week. In Poland, traditionally one of the most anti-Russian countries in the region, the populist governing party, Law and Justice, has gone almost overnight from aligning itself with Moscow in its hostility to LGBTQ rights and the defense of traditional values to becoming one of Putin’s most robust critics, offering its territory for the delivery of weapons into Ukraine and taking in more than 450,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war. Gas stations and ATMs in southeastern Poland along the border with Ukraine have been besieged in recent days by people worried that they might need to get out fast. That possibility hit home Monday evening when missiles slammed into a Ukrainian village just a few miles from the frontier, rattling windows in nearby houses on the Polish side. Just two weeks before Russian troops poured into Ukraine, Poland’s prime minister joined Orban and Marine Le Pen, the far-right French presidential candidate who has frequently spoken up for Russia, at a meeting in Madrid focused on attacking the European Union and its liberal attitudes on immigration. In recent days, however, Morawiecki has dropped the hostility to the European bloc to focus instead on opposing the Kremlin. He has lobbied for tough sanctions on Russia, traveling to Berlin to personally “shake Germany’s conscience” and nudge it toward a dramatic U-turn in its policy toward Russia. On a recent visit to Warsaw, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed Poland as “one of our most stalwart allies.” On Friday, Poland hosted a summit meeting with nine regional leaders to rally opposition to Russia’s invasion and discuss ways to help Ukraine. “We have woken up to a completely new reality,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told the gathering, lamenting that it had taken a Russian invasion to interrupt “the peaceful sleep of wealthy Europeans.” A nation of Slavs like Ukraine, Poland has long been viewed as a wayward family member by more messianic-minded Russian nationalists, whose views Putin channeled last week in his justification for the war. Russia’s foreign minister recently sneered at Poland and other new NATO members as “territories orphaned” by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. To demonstrate that Poland has no desire to rejoin what Moscow imagines as its happy, obedient but sadly divided family, the mayor of Warsaw announced Tuesday that refugees from Ukraine would be housed in apartment blocks built during the Cold War to house Soviet diplomats and left abandoned since because of legal disputes over ownership. Few people expect Russia to try to bring Poles back into a Moscow-dominated Slavic “family” by force, as it is now trying to do with Ukrainians. Doing that, said Tomasz Smura, director of research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a research group in Warsaw, “would mean that Putin has gone totally mad.” At the former Soviet warhead bunker in Podborsko, northwestern Poland, Zuk said he never really expected the Russians to try to retake their lost, Soviet-era military outposts. But he still wondered why, just before pulling out of Podobsko with its nuclear weapons, the Soviet military drew up a maintenance schedule for cranes used to lift warheads and other equipment at the facility stretching years into the future. “It seems they did not think they were leaving forever,” Zuk said, standing in a cavernous underground hall once crammed with warheads and long off limits to all but Soviet officers. In its attitude toward Poland, he added, Russia has always acted “like a master toward a servant,” a relationship that it is now trying to impose on Ukraine. “I worry that Putin may want to get hold of Poland and the Baltic states, too,” he said.

Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel unites Eastern Europe in alarm

More and more sanctions are being announced with each passing day, they are targeting the Russian economy, targeting Russia's billionaires and the Russian president himself. Both the US and Europe are going after the Russian leaders wealth.

US and Europe sanctions Putin but where are his assets?

The&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;appealed on Tuesday for more than $270 million to help people caught up in the Ukraine conflict, fearing that millions are rapidly being plunged into extreme suffering.

The International Committee of the&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;(ICRC) and the International Federation of the&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;and&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating.

"To respond to this sudden, massive need, the two organisations together are appealing for 250 million Swiss francs ($273 million, 243 million euros)," the joint movement said.

The ICRC is appealing for 150&nbsp;million Swiss francs&nbsp;for its 2022 operations in Ukraine&nbsp;and neighbouring countries.

"The escalating conflict in Ukraine is taking a devastating toll. Casualty figures keep rising&nbsp;while&nbsp;health facilities struggle&nbsp;to cope," said ICRC director-general Robert Mardini.

Meanwhile, the IFRC appealed for 100 million Swiss francs to support national&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;Societies to assist an initial two million people in need.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraines-refugee-crisis-exposes-western-medias-hypocrisy-457831">Ukraine’s refugee crisis exposes Western media's hypocrisy</a>

Red&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;teams on the ground are trying to provide life-saving help including basic aid items, medical supplies and shelter.

"The needs of the people affected by the conflict are increasing by the hour," said IFRC secretary general Jagan&nbsp;Chapagain.

"I call for global solidarity to ramp up the assistance to people suffering because of this conflict."

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: Russia's Ukraine invasion: How Ukrainians are fighting back

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-russias-ukraine-invasion-how-ukrainians-are-fighting-back-457641/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

The Red Cross appealed on Tuesday for more than $270 million to help people caught up in the Ukraine conflict, fearing that millions are rapidly being plunged into extreme suffering.

The Red Cross appealed on Tuesday for more than $270 million to help people caught up in the Ukraine conflict, fearing that millions are rapidly being plunged into extreme suffering. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating. "To respond to this sudden, massive need, the two organisations together are appealing for 250 million Swiss francs ($273 million, 243 million euros)," the joint movement said. The ICRC is appealing for 150 million Swiss francs for its 2022 operations in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. "The escalating conflict in Ukraine is taking a devastating toll. Casualty figures keep rising while health facilities struggle to cope," said ICRC director-general Robert Mardini. Meanwhile, the IFRC appealed for 100 million Swiss francs to support national Red Cross Societies to assist an initial two million people in need. Also read | Ukraine’s refugee crisis exposes Western media's hypocrisy Red Cross teams on the ground are trying to provide life-saving help including basic aid items, medical supplies and shelter. "The needs of the people affected by the conflict are increasing by the hour," said IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain. "I call for global solidarity to ramp up the assistance to people suffering because of this conflict." Watch | Gravitas: Russia's Ukraine invasion: How Ukrainians are fighting back

Red Cross wants $270 million for Ukraine operations

The teenager who started a Twitter account to track Elon Musk's private jet has shifted his focus to Russian oligarchs.

Russian Oligarch Jets is a new Instagram account that has been tracking the activities of some of Russia's wealthiest business people, reporting when and where their planes take off and land.

After the US sanctioned many members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest circle and promised to hunt down and freeze their assets, including their yachts and residences, the automated stream released its first tweet on Sunday.&nbsp;

Despite sanctions aimed at financially crippling Russia's elite in response for its invasion of Ukraine, Russian millionaires continue to travel the world on private jets and yachts.

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Roman Abramovich's Helicopter M-SOLA Landed near Basseterre, (unassigned), KN. Apx. flt. time 17 Mins. <a href="https://t.co/KARQJ6pWQD">pic.twitter.com/KARQJ6pWQD</a>
— Russian Oligarch Jets (@RUOligarchJets) <a href="https://twitter.com/RUOligarchJets/status/1498389923954675724?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Some of Russia's wealthiest business people have begun relocating their mega yachts to Montenegro and the Maldives, according to CNBC, potentially to avoid being confiscated or frozen.

Russian oligarchs' jets and helicopters appear to be on the move as well.

Several flights by aircraft owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich have already been followed by the Oligarch Jets account, including a helicopter ride in the Caribbean on Monday.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The teenager who started a Twitter account to track Elon Musk's private jet has shifted his focus to Russian oligarchs. Russian Oligarch Jets is a new Instagram account that has been tracking the activities of some of Russia's wealthiest business people, reporting when and where their planes take off and land.

The teenager who started a Twitter account to track Elon Musk's private jet has shifted his focus to Russian oligarchs. Russian Oligarch Jets is a new Instagram account that has been tracking the activities of some of Russia's wealthiest business people, reporting when and where their planes take off and land. After the US sanctioned many members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest circle and promised to hunt down and freeze their assets, including their yachts and residences, the automated stream released its first tweet on Sunday. Despite sanctions aimed at financially crippling Russia's elite in response for its invasion of Ukraine, Russian millionaires continue to travel the world on private jets and yachts. Roman Abramovich's Helicopter M-SOLA Landed near Basseterre, (unassigned), KN. Apx. flt. time 17 Mins. pic.twitter.com/KARQJ6pWQD — Russian Oligarch Jets (@RUOligarchJets) February 28, 2022 × Some of Russia's wealthiest business people have begun relocating their mega yachts to Montenegro and the Maldives, according to CNBC, potentially to avoid being confiscated or frozen. Russian oligarchs' jets and helicopters appear to be on the move as well. Several flights by aircraft owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich have already been followed by the Oligarch Jets account, including a helicopter ride in the Caribbean on Monday. (With inputs from agencies)

Teen famous for tracking Elon Musk's jet now chasing Russian tycoons

Cars with Ukrainian license plates have been queuing up at the borders of Poland, Hungary and Romania. Some manage to cross over while others are left abandoned after running out of gas. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Packed railway and bus stations, flooded streets and highways. This is the new reality of Ukraine as a massive humanitarian crisis unfolds in Europe, one that experts are estimating to be Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War Two. The panic is palpable. &nbsp;&nbsp;

On Wednesday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the General Assembly that as many as five million Ukrainians could be displaced and that nearly three million are already displaced. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Two days after Russia’s invasion, Poland’s Interior Ministry confirmed that 115,000 people had crossed over to Poland from Ukraine, a figure that’s on a rapid rise. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In the meantime, Poland has set up reception centres offering meals and medical care to the refugees; a majority of whom are reportedly the elderly, women and children. The UN estimates that Ukraine’s 54 per cent of people in need of assistance are women, 30 per cent are elderly, 13 per cent are children and 13 per cent have disabilities. &nbsp;&nbsp;

As for men aged between 18 and 60, social media is swamped with accounts of Ukrainian personnel yanking men out of buses and roads to conscript them in the army. &nbsp;

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Long story short: I just walked to Poland. 
 
It was a hellish 20-hour journey undertaken in the middle of winter with thousands of refugees. I saw some terrible things:
— Ukraine Conflict Live 2022 (@UkraineLive2022) <a href="https://twitter.com/UkraineLive2022/status/1497106536828710912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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While the bulk of Ukrainian refugees have received steadfast support from Poland, many are seeking asylum in other neighbouring nations i.e., Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. &nbsp;

Unlike 2015 when Muslim Syrian refugees were not entirely welcomed by Hungary, Ukraine’s Christian population is at least not receiving a stony reception. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Consider the complex question; What happens when the wave of unity begins to wane? This as displacement numbers grow especially taking into account the possibility that Ukraine conflict is not short-lived. Not to forget, UN’s estimate of an additional one million people in Ukraine that are already displaced internally due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. &nbsp;

Advocacy Group, Refugees International has warned of further displacement and suffering during the Ukraine conflict. In a statement by its President, Eric P Schwartz, the organisation says, “In going to war against Ukraine, Russia is creating a crisis that risks displacement and suffering on a scale that could surpass any seen in Europe in decades. Millions of people are in danger. As efforts to deter Russia fail, governments of the world must be prepared to provide assistance and protection for people who are forced to flee, as well as those who may become civilian victims of military action.” &nbsp;

It is for this reason that the United States must contribute to ease the burden of its western allies. While the US along with the EU, the UK, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and New Zealand have announced a series of sanctions targeting Russia’s core financial infrastructure, oil refineries and military exports, are sanctions enough? Immediate action by the United States to rescue refugees is real damage control and need of the hour. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Interestingly, the United States is known to be a generous donor of humanitarian assistance in the world. Reportedly, US contribution to alleviate the Syrian crisis reached a whopping figure of $3.8 billion. But the paradox is that the United States provides assistance to the very crises it is fuelling with its own military actions and partnerships. Case in point are the US military operations in Iraq, Syria and the most recent being Afghanistan. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The West, especially Europe and the US, need a framework that includes not only the rescue of refugees but also one that protects them from secondary harms, like human rights violations. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Are wealthy Western democracies prepared to take on the obligation to rescue Ukrainian refugees? &nbsp;

On the ground in Ukraine to film a documentary on Russia’s invasion, actor and activist, Sean Penn has condemned the Russian President, Vladimir Putin for what Penn called “a most horrible mistake for all of humankind.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

The fact is wars only lead to destruction. They end lives and livelihoods. Childhood, marriages and families are destroyed. Putin is the tyrant behind the ruin of Ukraine but the incompetence of NATO especially, the US, unable to contain the ruthless expansionist is equally reprehensible.&nbsp;

Cars with Ukrainian license plates have been queuing up at the borders of Poland, Hungary and Romania. Some manage to cross over while others are left abandoned after running out of gas.

Cars with Ukrainian license plates have been queuing up at the borders of Poland, Hungary and Romania. Some manage to cross over while others are left abandoned after running out of gas. Packed railway and bus stations, flooded streets and highways. This is the new reality of Ukraine as a massive humanitarian crisis unfolds in Europe, one that experts are estimating to be Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War Two. The panic is palpable. On Wednesday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the General Assembly that as many as five million Ukrainians could be displaced and that nearly three million are already displaced. Two days after Russia’s invasion, Poland’s Interior Ministry confirmed that 115,000 people had crossed over to Poland from Ukraine, a figure that’s on a rapid rise. In the meantime, Poland has set up reception centres offering meals and medical care to the refugees; a majority of whom are reportedly the elderly, women and children. The UN estimates that Ukraine’s 54 per cent of people in need of assistance are women, 30 per cent are elderly, 13 per cent are children and 13 per cent have disabilities. As for men aged between 18 and 60, social media is swamped with accounts of Ukrainian personnel yanking men out of buses and roads to conscript them in the army. Long story short: I just walked to Poland. It was a hellish 20-hour journey undertaken in the middle of winter with thousands of refugees. I saw some terrible things: — Ukraine Conflict Live 2022 (@UkraineLive2022) February 25, 2022 × While the bulk of Ukrainian refugees have received steadfast support from Poland, many are seeking asylum in other neighbouring nations i.e., Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. Unlike 2015 when Muslim Syrian refugees were not entirely welcomed by Hungary, Ukraine’s Christian population is at least not receiving a stony reception. Consider the complex question; What happens when the wave of unity begins to wane? This as displacement numbers grow especially taking into account the possibility that Ukraine conflict is not short-lived. Not to forget, UN’s estimate of an additional one million people in Ukraine that are already displaced internally due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Advocacy Group, Refugees International has warned of further displacement and suffering during the Ukraine conflict. In a statement by its President, Eric P Schwartz, the organisation says, “In going to war against Ukraine, Russia is creating a crisis that risks displacement and suffering on a scale that could surpass any seen in Europe in decades. Millions of people are in danger. As efforts to deter Russia fail, governments of the world must be prepared to provide assistance and protection for people who are forced to flee, as well as those who may become civilian victims of military action.” It is for this reason that the United States must contribute to ease the burden of its western allies. While the US along with the EU, the UK, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and New Zealand have announced a series of sanctions targeting Russia’s core financial infrastructure, oil refineries and military exports, are sanctions enough? Immediate action by the United States to rescue refugees is real damage control and need of the hour. Interestingly, the United States is known to be a generous donor of humanitarian assistance in the world. Reportedly, US contribution to alleviate the Syrian crisis reached a whopping figure of $3.8 billion. But the paradox is that the United States provides assistance to the very crises it is fuelling with its own military actions and partnerships. Case in point are the US military operations in Iraq, Syria and the most recent being Afghanistan. The West, especially Europe and the US, need a framework that includes not only the rescue of refugees but also one that protects them from secondary harms, like human rights violations. Are wealthy Western democracies prepared to take on the obligation to rescue Ukrainian refugees? On the ground in Ukraine to film a documentary on Russia’s invasion, actor and activist, Sean Penn has condemned the Russian President, Vladimir Putin for what Penn called “a most horrible mistake for all of humankind.” The fact is wars only lead to destruction. They end lives and livelihoods. Childhood, marriages and families are destroyed. Putin is the tyrant behind the ruin of Ukraine but the incompetence of NATO especially, the US, unable to contain the ruthless expansionist is equally reprehensible.

Ukraine Conflict: Europe’s humanitarian disaster

Ukrainians are an ethnic group of East Slavs who originated in Ukraine.

They are Europe's seventh-largest country and the East Slavs' second-largest after the Russians.

According to Ukraine's Constitution, the phrase "Ukrainians" refers to all of the country's citizens.

Ukrainians are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians.&nbsp;

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has alternated between pursuing closer integration with Western Europe and being lured into the orbit of Russia, which regards a Western-leaning Ukraine as a threat to its interests. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/did-nostradamus-foresee-the-russia-ukraine-war-reaching-france-456969">Also read | Did Nostradamus foresee the Russia-Ukraine war reaching France?&nbsp;</a>

Ukraine, Europe's second-largest country, is a place of wide, fertile agricultural plains in the east, with big concentrations of heavy industry.&nbsp; 
 
Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of grains - wheat, corn, and barley. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/why-is-ukraine-such-a-popular-choice-for-indian-medical-students-456990">Also read | Why is Ukraine such a popular choice for Indian medical students?</a> 
 
Basic facts about Ukraine:

<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Capital</td>
			<td>Kiev</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Population</td>
			<td>44.9 million</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Area&nbsp;</td>
			<td>603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Major languages</td>
			<td>Ukrainian (official), Russian</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Major religion</td>
			<td>Christianity</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Life expectancy</td>
			<td>64 years (men), 75 years (women)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethnic groups (2001)</td>
			<td>77.8% Ukrainians, 17.3% Russians, 4.9% Others</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Currency</td>
			<td>Ukrainian hryvnia</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Here are five facts about the country that has long been disputed by great empires.

Disputed history

Ukraine literally means "on the edge".

Modern-day Russia and Ukraine both trace their roots to the medieval state of Kievan Rus, which at its height stretched from the Black Sea to the Baltic.

Indeed Russian President Vladimir Putin has written a 5,000-word essay trying to prove that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people".

But Ukrainians speak their own language and much of what is now Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with other areas controlled by the Cossacks and Crimean Tatars up to the end of the 18th century.

It then became part of the Tsarist Russian empire although some western regions belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Stalin's famine

Ukraine later became part of the Soviet Union, suffering during a devastating famine known as the Holodomor caused by Joseph Stalin's policies that killed up to five million people there.

Tensions between Kiev and Moscow flared again in the decades following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 when an overwhelming majority of Ukraine's people voted for independence.

After a pro-Western popular uprising led to Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych fleeing in 2014, Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatists in the east of Ukraine.

The conflict has claimed around 14,000 lives.

Economic trouble

The annexation of Crimea and the loss of the industrial Donbas in 2014 threw the Ukrainian economy into freefall. GDP dropped by more than six percent, and the following year it fell nearly a tenth, with inflation hitting more than 40 percent.

The economy has since recovered somewhat but the country of 45 million people remains one of the poorest in Europe.

An average monthly salary is $615 (550 euros).

The country relies on transit fees for Russian gas towards Europe but new Moscow energy pipelines like Nord Stream bypass it.

During disputes in 2006 and 2009, Moscow cut supplies to Ukraine during the winter, sparking knock-on shortages in Europe.

The country also suffers from endemic corruption, with anti-corruption campaigners regularly suffer physical attacks.

Chernobyl

The world's worst nuclear accident took place in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power station.

Many hundreds died though the exact figure remains disputed. Soviet authorities initially tried to cover up the disaster.

Eventually 350,000 people were evacuated from within a 30-kilometre (19-mile) radius around the plant, an exclusion zone that remains uninhabited, apart from some elderly residents who returned despite an official ban.

Humans will only be safe to live there again in 24,000 years.

In recent years the site has become a tourist attraction, with the success of HBO's mini-series "Chernobyl".

Borscht and Chicken Kiev

While some in the West think of borscht as synonymous with Russian cuisine, Ukraine claims the beetroot-based soup with cabbage as part of its national heritage dating back to the 14th century.

A number of other dishes are contested by Russia and Ukraine, including Chicken Kiev. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Ukrainians are an ethnic group of East Slavs who originated in Ukraine. They are Europe's seventh-largest country and the East Slavs' second-largest after the Russians.

Ukrainians are an ethnic group of East Slavs who originated in Ukraine. They are Europe's seventh-largest country and the East Slavs' second-largest after the Russians. According to Ukraine's Constitution, the phrase "Ukrainians" refers to all of the country's citizens. Ukrainians are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has alternated between pursuing closer integration with Western Europe and being lured into the orbit of Russia, which regards a Western-leaning Ukraine as a threat to its interests. Also read | Did Nostradamus foresee the Russia-Ukraine war reaching France? Ukraine, Europe's second-largest country, is a place of wide, fertile agricultural plains in the east, with big concentrations of heavy industry. Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of grains - wheat, corn, and barley. Also read | Why is Ukraine such a popular choice for Indian medical students? Basic facts about Ukraine: Capital Kiev Population 44.9 million Area 603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles) Major languages Ukrainian (official), Russian Major religion Christianity Life expectancy 64 years (men), 75 years (women) Ethnic groups (2001) 77.8% Ukrainians, 17.3% Russians, 4.9% Others Currency Ukrainian hryvnia Here are five facts about the country that has long been disputed by great empires. Disputed history Ukraine literally means "on the edge". Modern-day Russia and Ukraine both trace their roots to the medieval state of Kievan Rus, which at its height stretched from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Indeed Russian President Vladimir Putin has written a 5,000-word essay trying to prove that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people". But Ukrainians speak their own language and much of what is now Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with other areas controlled by the Cossacks and Crimean Tatars up to the end of the 18th century. It then became part of the Tsarist Russian empire although some western regions belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Stalin's famine Ukraine later became part of the Soviet Union, suffering during a devastating famine known as the Holodomor caused by Joseph Stalin's policies that killed up to five million people there. Tensions between Kiev and Moscow flared again in the decades following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 when an overwhelming majority of Ukraine's people voted for independence. After a pro-Western popular uprising led to Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych fleeing in 2014, Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatists in the east of Ukraine. The conflict has claimed around 14,000 lives. Economic trouble The annexation of Crimea and the loss of the industrial Donbas in 2014 threw the Ukrainian economy into freefall. GDP dropped by more than six percent, and the following year it fell nearly a tenth, with inflation hitting more than 40 percent. The economy has since recovered somewhat but the country of 45 million people remains one of the poorest in Europe. An average monthly salary is $615 (550 euros). The country relies on transit fees for Russian gas towards Europe but new Moscow energy pipelines like Nord Stream bypass it. During disputes in 2006 and 2009, Moscow cut supplies to Ukraine during the winter, sparking knock-on shortages in Europe. The country also suffers from endemic corruption, with anti-corruption campaigners regularly suffer physical attacks. Chernobyl The world's worst nuclear accident took place in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Many hundreds died though the exact figure remains disputed. Soviet authorities initially tried to cover up the disaster. Eventually 350,000 people were evacuated from within a 30-kilometre (19-mile) radius around the plant, an exclusion zone that remains uninhabited, apart from some elderly residents who returned despite an official ban. Humans will only be safe to live there again in 24,000 years. In recent years the site has become a tourist attraction, with the success of HBO's mini-series "Chernobyl". Borscht and Chicken Kiev While some in the West think of borscht as synonymous with Russian cuisine, Ukraine claims the beetroot-based soup with cabbage as part of its national heritage dating back to the 14th century. A number of other dishes are contested by Russia and Ukraine, including Chicken Kiev. (With inputs from agencies)

Who are the Ukrainians? What you should know about the nation facing war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed tens of thousands of people out of their homes and fleeing across borders to escape violence. But unlike the refugees who have flooded Europe in crises over the past decade, they are being welcomed.

Countries that have for years resisted taking in refugees from wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are now opening their doors to Ukrainians as Russian forces carry out a nationwide military assault. Perhaps 100,000 Ukrainians already have left their homes, according to United Nations estimates, and at least half of them have crowded onto trains, jammed highways or walked to get across their country’s borders in what officials warn could become the world’s next refugee crisis.

UN and US officials described their concerted diplomatic push for Ukraine’s neighbors and other European nations to respond to the outpouring of need. President Joe Biden “is certainly prepared” to accept refugees from Ukraine, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Thursday, but she noted that the majority of them would probably choose to remain in Europe so they could more easily return home once the fighting ended.

“Heartfelt thanks to the governments and people of countries keeping their borders open and welcoming refugees,” said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency. He warned that “many more” Ukrainians were moving toward the borders.

That means thousands will end up in countries led by nationalist governments that in past crises have been reluctant to welcome refugees or even blocked them.

In Poland, government officials assisted by American soldiers and diplomats have set up processing centers for Ukrainians. “Anyone fleeing from bombs, from Russian rifles, can count on the support of the Polish state,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski told reporters Thursday. His government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a border wall, a project it began after refugees and migrants from the Middle East tried to reach the country last year but ended up marooned in neighboring Belarus.

The military in Hungary is allowing in Ukrainians through sections of the border that had been closed. Hungary’s hard-line prime minister, Viktor Orban, has previously called refugees a threat to his country, and his government has been accused of caging and starving them.

Farther west, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that “of course we will take in refugees if necessary” in light of the crisis in Ukraine. As recently as last fall, when he was serving as interior minister, Nehammer sought to block some Afghans seeking refuge after the Taliban overthrew the government in Kabul.

“It’s different in Ukraine than in countries like Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying during an interview on a national TV program. “We’re talking about neighborhood help.”

Nehammer also said the number of Ukrainians seeking help was expected to be relatively small. At least 1.3 million people — mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — applied for asylum in Europe in 2015 during what was widely regarded as the worst refugee crisis since World War II, stretching national budgets and creating a backlash of political nativism in countries across the continent.

Some estimates project that at least 1 million refugees will flee Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday that the fighting could uproot as many as 5 million people, “putting pressure on Ukraine’s neighbors.”

Diplomats and experts said European states willing to take in Ukrainians might be trying, in part, to highlight Russian aggressions against civilians by offering a humanitarian response.

“If you think of causing the refugee crisis as one of Putin’s tools to destabilise the West, then a calm, efficient, orderly response is a really good rebuke to that,” said Serena Parekh, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and director of its politics, philosophy and economics program.

“On the other hand,” said Parekh, who has written extensively about refugees, “it’s hard not to see that Ukrainians are white, mostly Christian and Europeans. And so in a sense, the xenophobia that’s really arisen in the last 10 years, particularly after 2015, is not at play in this crisis in the way that it has been for refugees coming from the Middle East and from Africa.”

The Biden administration is also facing calls to take in Ukrainian refugees, much in the way it gave residency or humanitarian parole to more than 75,000 Afghans when the Taliban seized power in August.

It is unlikely — at the moment, at least — that the United States would offer a humanitarian parole program for Ukrainians that goes above what is currently allowed for the total number of refugee admissions for the current fiscal year. That number is capped at 125,000 this year — including 10,000 refugees from Europe and Central Asia. The guidelines set aside another 10,000 slots for refugees from any part of the world as regional emergencies warrant.

Psaki did not comment when asked by a reporter whether the administration would offer temporary residency protections, a program known as TPS, to Ukrainian students, workers and others who are in the United States to ensure they are not deported when their legal visas expire.

“The war in Ukraine is exactly the type of crisis TPS was created for — to allow people to live and work in the United States when they are unable to return home safely,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday night.

Psaki said the United States had sent an estimated $52 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine over the past year to help people, mostly in the eastern Donbas region, where the current war began as a slow-burn conflict between Ukraine’s military and Russian-backed separatists in 2014. Nearly 1.5 million people had been forced from their homes by the fighting even before the invasion this past week.

Additionally, the US Agency for International Development sent a team of disaster experts to Poland in the past week to assess demand for aid to the region — including water, food, shelter, medicine and other supplies — and to coordinate its delivery. Hours after the invasion began, the United Nations announced it would divert $20 million in emergency funds for humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians, mostly to the Donbas region.

A European diplomat who is closely watching the refugee flow from Ukraine said neighboring nations might also feel the pull of history in welcoming people in danger as a direct result of Russia’s aggressions. A Soviet crackdown on a Hungarian uprising in 1956, for example, resulted in 200,000 refugees, most of whom fled to Austria before they were settled in dozens of countries across Europe. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people — and perhaps even more than that — left what was then Czechoslovakia to escape a Soviet invasion in 1968 that was launched to silence pro-democracy Prague Spring protests.

In both cases, the United States sent aid to help European countries settle refugees and, in the Hungarian crisis, “in a matter of months, there were no more refugees; they had been found a permanent home,” Parekh said.

That was largely the result of the United States working with European states to resettle the Hungarians, she said, calling the effort “an exception, historically.”

“It was a similar thing — people fleeing our Russian enemy — that motivated us,” she said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed tens of thousands of people out of their homes and fleeing across borders to escape violence. But unlike the refugees who have flooded Europe in crises over the past decade, they are being welcomed.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed tens of thousands of people out of their homes and fleeing across borders to escape violence. But unlike the refugees who have flooded Europe in crises over the past decade, they are being welcomed. Countries that have for years resisted taking in refugees from wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are now opening their doors to Ukrainians as Russian forces carry out a nationwide military assault. Perhaps 100,000 Ukrainians already have left their homes, according to United Nations estimates, and at least half of them have crowded onto trains, jammed highways or walked to get across their country’s borders in what officials warn could become the world’s next refugee crisis. UN and US officials described their concerted diplomatic push for Ukraine’s neighbors and other European nations to respond to the outpouring of need. President Joe Biden “is certainly prepared” to accept refugees from Ukraine, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Thursday, but she noted that the majority of them would probably choose to remain in Europe so they could more easily return home once the fighting ended. “Heartfelt thanks to the governments and people of countries keeping their borders open and welcoming refugees,” said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency. He warned that “many more” Ukrainians were moving toward the borders. That means thousands will end up in countries led by nationalist governments that in past crises have been reluctant to welcome refugees or even blocked them. In Poland, government officials assisted by American soldiers and diplomats have set up processing centers for Ukrainians. “Anyone fleeing from bombs, from Russian rifles, can count on the support of the Polish state,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski told reporters Thursday. His government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a border wall, a project it began after refugees and migrants from the Middle East tried to reach the country last year but ended up marooned in neighboring Belarus. The military in Hungary is allowing in Ukrainians through sections of the border that had been closed. Hungary’s hard-line prime minister, Viktor Orban, has previously called refugees a threat to his country, and his government has been accused of caging and starving them. Farther west, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that “of course we will take in refugees if necessary” in light of the crisis in Ukraine. As recently as last fall, when he was serving as interior minister, Nehammer sought to block some Afghans seeking refuge after the Taliban overthrew the government in Kabul. “It’s different in Ukraine than in countries like Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying during an interview on a national TV program. “We’re talking about neighborhood help.” Nehammer also said the number of Ukrainians seeking help was expected to be relatively small. At least 1.3 million people — mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — applied for asylum in Europe in 2015 during what was widely regarded as the worst refugee crisis since World War II, stretching national budgets and creating a backlash of political nativism in countries across the continent. Some estimates project that at least 1 million refugees will flee Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday that the fighting could uproot as many as 5 million people, “putting pressure on Ukraine’s neighbors.” Diplomats and experts said European states willing to take in Ukrainians might be trying, in part, to highlight Russian aggressions against civilians by offering a humanitarian response. “If you think of causing the refugee crisis as one of Putin’s tools to destabilise the West, then a calm, efficient, orderly response is a really good rebuke to that,” said Serena Parekh, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and director of its politics, philosophy and economics program. “On the other hand,” said Parekh, who has written extensively about refugees, “it’s hard not to see that Ukrainians are white, mostly Christian and Europeans. And so in a sense, the xenophobia that’s really arisen in the last 10 years, particularly after 2015, is not at play in this crisis in the way that it has been for refugees coming from the Middle East and from Africa.” The Biden administration is also facing calls to take in Ukrainian refugees, much in the way it gave residency or humanitarian parole to more than 75,000 Afghans when the Taliban seized power in August. It is unlikely — at the moment, at least — that the United States would offer a humanitarian parole program for Ukrainians that goes above what is currently allowed for the total number of refugee admissions for the current fiscal year. That number is capped at 125,000 this year — including 10,000 refugees from Europe and Central Asia. The guidelines set aside another 10,000 slots for refugees from any part of the world as regional emergencies warrant. Psaki did not comment when asked by a reporter whether the administration would offer temporary residency protections, a program known as TPS, to Ukrainian students, workers and others who are in the United States to ensure they are not deported when their legal visas expire. “The war in Ukraine is exactly the type of crisis TPS was created for — to allow people to live and work in the United States when they are unable to return home safely,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday night. Psaki said the United States had sent an estimated $52 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine over the past year to help people, mostly in the eastern Donbas region, where the current war began as a slow-burn conflict between Ukraine’s military and Russian-backed separatists in 2014. Nearly 1.5 million people had been forced from their homes by the fighting even before the invasion this past week. Additionally, the US Agency for International Development sent a team of disaster experts to Poland in the past week to assess demand for aid to the region — including water, food, shelter, medicine and other supplies — and to coordinate its delivery. Hours after the invasion began, the United Nations announced it would divert $20 million in emergency funds for humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians, mostly to the Donbas region. A European diplomat who is closely watching the refugee flow from Ukraine said neighboring nations might also feel the pull of history in welcoming people in danger as a direct result of Russia’s aggressions. A Soviet crackdown on a Hungarian uprising in 1956, for example, resulted in 200,000 refugees, most of whom fled to Austria before they were settled in dozens of countries across Europe. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people — and perhaps even more than that — left what was then Czechoslovakia to escape a Soviet invasion in 1968 that was launched to silence pro-democracy Prague Spring protests. In both cases, the United States sent aid to help European countries settle refugees and, in the Hungarian crisis, “in a matter of months, there were no more refugees; they had been found a permanent home,” Parekh said. That was largely the result of the United States working with European states to resettle the Hungarians, she said, calling the effort “an exception, historically.” “It was a similar thing — people fleeing our Russian enemy — that motivated us,” she said.

For Ukraine’s refugees, Europe opens doors that were shut to others

NATO leaders are just minutes away from convening a virtual summit to discuss the future course of action against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The member states are arming up the borders of European countries on the eastern front with a vow to defend every inch of NATO territory. The US has announced the deployment of an additional 7,000 troops to Germany, these forces will be positioned in a defensive capacity to defend and reassure NATO.

NATO arms up eastern Europe borders, Zelenskyy says West 'too slow' to help

Europe's worst nightmare has come true one of its largest countries is under attack. The US president has rolled out the first batch of sanctions in what they say could be an ever fiercer and broader cascade of financial sanctions and penalties over Russia's moves against Ukraine.

West readies sanctions against Russia, Putin faces global condemnation

Russia is the third-largest supplier of natural gas in the world. 72% natural gas & 48% oil exports from Russia go to Europe. If a war happens, Europe's energy supplies could get crippled. Palki Sharma tells you how this has unnerved energy markets.

Gravitas: Why Europe's energy supplies depend on Russia

Europe's most active volcano- Mount Etna has once again erupted sending plumes of ash into the sky, flight services have also been disrupted.

Italy: Europe's most active volcano, Mount Etna's new eruption shuts airport

India called for 'restraint and talks' at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine. How long can India ignore Russia's unilateral moves in Europe? Should New Delhi rethink its ties with Russia? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: India urges 'restraint and talks' in eastern Ukraine

India's foreign minister S Jaishankar refused to draw parallels between China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific and Russia's build-up in Europe. What is the rationale behind India's strategy? How have Moscow and Washington responded to it? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: India walks Ukraine tightrope

A German retiree facing sky-high energy bills is turning to a wood-burning stove. The owner of a dry cleaning business in Spain adjusted her employees’ work shifts to cut electric bills and installed solar panels. A mayor in France said he ordered a hiring freeze because rising electrical bills threaten a financial “catastrophe.”

Europeans have long paid some of the world’s highest prices for energy, but no one can remember a winter like this one. Lives and livelihoods across the continent are being upended by a series of factors, including pandemic-induced supply shortages and now geopolitical tensions that are driving some energy prices up fivefold.

Matters could get worse if tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate further, potentially interrupting the flow of gas. Russia provides more than one-third of Europe’s natural gas, which heats homes, generates electricity and powers factories. Even as politicians and leaders in capitals across Europe are freezing prices, slashing taxes on energy and issuing checks to households hardest hit by the price increases, concerns are growing about what the persistently high prices could mean for peoples’ jobs and their ability to pay their bills.

“People are very upset and very distressed,” said Stefanie Siegert, who counsels consumers in the eastern German state of Saxony who find themselves struggling to pay their gas and power bills.

Germany has so far not seen protests over exorbitant energy bills like those that filled streets in Spain last year, or an explosive outcry over inequality on the level of the yellow vest movement that rocked France in 2018. But Siegert, whose agency counseled more than 300 customers in January — three times its monthly average — said she wouldn’t be surprised if the anger directed at the prospect of a vaccine mandate shifted its sights to energy prices.

“When you talk with people, you feel their anger,” she said. “It is very depressing.”

Charged in one month what he used to pay in a year

Henry Backhaus, 65, is among tens of thousands of Germans who were dropped by private energy companies that could not afford to buy wholesale electricity and gas at soaring rates. Under German law, the local utility was then required to step in, but it sent him a bill for 747 euros (nearly $850) a month — more than he had been paying for an entire year.

“I am a retiree,” he said, looking over the stack of paperwork spread out on his dining room table. “That is more than what I can afford.”

But Backhaus, who lives in a three-story house in Saxony, has an alternative that might make him the envy of the millions of other Germans stuck with high energy bills: He has a large wood stove in his living room and, in his basement next to his gas-fired furnace, a furnace that burns coal or wood.

The stove and furnace, installed before the house was connected to a gas main, allow him to turn down the dial on his radiators to just 18 degrees Celsius, or 64 Fahrenheit, essentially cutting his gas bill in half.

“I still have a reserve of coal briquettes and stacks of dried wood,” he said, poking another log into the stove. “But this is only temporary. It is not a long-term solution.”

Most people don’t have the option of burning wood or coal, relying instead on piling on layers of clothing. In Britain, the government’s price cap on energy bills was recently raised 54%, increasing annual charges to 1,971 pounds. That increase will affect 22 million households beginning in April, contributing to broadening worries in Britain about the rising cost of living.

Similar concerns can be found throughout the continent.

Athina Sirogianni, 46, a freelance translator in Athens, Greece, said she remembered fondly the day about a decade ago when her building switched from oil to natural gas. The move cut her utility bill in half.

Now, her heating bill is nearly triple last year’s.

“I keep trying to think of where I can cut spending so I can afford the bills,” she said, adding that she hasn’t visited the hairdresser in nearly a year, and has pared back her food shopping to the essentials.

‘The more we produce, the more we lose’

The price of energy is also forcing shutdowns or slowing production at manufacturers across Europe, even as they are eager to fill a backlog of orders and resume levels of business from before the pandemic.

The smelting industry has been especially hit hard. Nyrstar, the world’s second-largest zinc processor, produces nearly 500 tons of the metal each day at a sprawling factory in Auby, in northern France, a complex that consumes as much energy as the French city of Lyon.

When its electrical rates surged from 35 euros to 50 euros per megawatt-hour to 400 euros in December, it made no sense to keep the factory running, said Xavier Constant, Nyrstar France’s general manager. At that rate, he said, “the more we produce, the more we lose,” and so the plant shut down last month for three weeks.

Nyrstar temporarily halved production at its other European plants in October when the energy crisis set in, prompting a brief spike in the global price of zinc.

Last fall, fertilizer plants in Britain were forced to close because of gas prices. And several German companies that produce glass, steel and fertilizer have also scaled back production in recent months.

To ease the burden of the high prices, the government in Berlin reduced by half an energy surcharge on bills aimed at funding the country’s transition to renewable sources of power, and plans to phase it out by the end of next year.

But industry leaders say that is not soon enough. Almost two-thirds of the 28,000 companies surveyed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry this month rated energy prices as one of their biggest business risks. For those in the industrial sector, the figure was as high as 85%.

Small businesses, too, are scrambling for ways to cut costs.

Pilar Ballesteros Parra, who co-owns Ronsel, a dry cleaning business in Madrid that employs 10 people, said that her company’s electricity rates had risen about 20% from the previous year. In reaction, she has reorganized her employees’ work schedule, starting the early shift earlier and pushing the late shift further into the evening so the dry-cleaning equipment can run when rates are lowest.

She is also installing solar panels on the company’s building, outside of the Spanish capital, so that Ronsel can generate at least 60% of its own energy. The government is helping her with a 35% subsidy of the $45,000 investment.

“Our building faces southwest and gets a lot of sun, so that means that we should be almost self-sustainable during the coming months of spring and summer, which will be a big relief,” she said.

Still, she said, the energy crunch and overall price inflation meant that she saw little chance of sparing her customers some of the burden.

“There’s clearly this electricity headache, but there’s also now wage inflation and much higher gas bills for our vans,” she said. “In a few months, it’s clear that some of these costs will have to be passed on to our clients if we want to keep going.”

For public budgets, ‘like riding a roller coaster’

A broad range of public institutions are facing strains from higher power bills. In Poland, hospitals that have already been financially stretched by the coronavirus pandemic now question if they can keep their doors open.

“Managing a hospital in Poland is more and more like riding a roller coaster,” Robert Suroweic, who manages the Provincial Hospital in Gorzow, said on Twitter. He said the facility’s electricity prices had increased 100%.

He and other hospital directors have appealed to the government in Warsaw to intervene, saying the recent cuts to taxes on energy and gasoline were not enough.

In Germany, there is rising tension in municipally owned utilities that must accept customers, like Backhaus in Saxony, whose relatively low-cost contracts have been dropped by private energy companies because the companies can’t pay ballooning energy rates.

The municipal utilities are forced to increase the rates for these new customers, often almost astronomically high, to cover the cost of buying extra energy on the spot market at record prices. That leads to tensions in communities, and can threaten municipal finances.

“Anyone who wants to will be supplied with energy by the municipal utilities,” said Markus Lewe, president of the German Association of Cities and Towns. “But it must not lead to the municipal utilities and their loyal customers being asked to pay for questionable business models of other providers and having to answer for their shortsighted financing.”

He called on the federal government to intervene, to protect cities from the price instability.

In France, local leaders are also looking to the federal government to help ease the sting of skyrocketing energy bills.

Boris Ravignon, the mayor of Charleville-Mézières, said his city is facing “a catastrophe” after its January energy bill more than tripled, wiping out the region’s budget surplus for infrastructure and public services in a single month. The city is trying to cut costs by switching streetlights to LED bulbs, which use less electricity, and has proposed a new hydroelectric project.

The mayor has already frozen planned hirings and said the city may have no choice but to raise the cost of public services like water, transportation, fees to use sports halls like the city’s public pool, and cultural events.

“We really want to protect citizens from these increases,” Ravignon said. “But when prices reach such crazy heights, it’s impossible.” 
&nbsp;

A German retiree facing sky-high energy bills is turning to a wood-burning stove. The owner of a dry cleaning business in Spain adjusted her employees’ work shifts to cut electric bills and installed solar panels.

A German retiree facing sky-high energy bills is turning to a wood-burning stove. The owner of a dry cleaning business in Spain adjusted her employees’ work shifts to cut electric bills and installed solar panels. A mayor in France said he ordered a hiring freeze because rising electrical bills threaten a financial “catastrophe.” Europeans have long paid some of the world’s highest prices for energy, but no one can remember a winter like this one. Lives and livelihoods across the continent are being upended by a series of factors, including pandemic-induced supply shortages and now geopolitical tensions that are driving some energy prices up fivefold. Matters could get worse if tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate further, potentially interrupting the flow of gas. Russia provides more than one-third of Europe’s natural gas, which heats homes, generates electricity and powers factories. Even as politicians and leaders in capitals across Europe are freezing prices, slashing taxes on energy and issuing checks to households hardest hit by the price increases, concerns are growing about what the persistently high prices could mean for peoples’ jobs and their ability to pay their bills. “People are very upset and very distressed,” said Stefanie Siegert, who counsels consumers in the eastern German state of Saxony who find themselves struggling to pay their gas and power bills. Germany has so far not seen protests over exorbitant energy bills like those that filled streets in Spain last year, or an explosive outcry over inequality on the level of the yellow vest movement that rocked France in 2018. But Siegert, whose agency counseled more than 300 customers in January — three times its monthly average — said she wouldn’t be surprised if the anger directed at the prospect of a vaccine mandate shifted its sights to energy prices. “When you talk with people, you feel their anger,” she said. “It is very depressing.” Charged in one month what he used to pay in a year Henry Backhaus, 65, is among tens of thousands of Germans who were dropped by private energy companies that could not afford to buy wholesale electricity and gas at soaring rates. Under German law, the local utility was then required to step in, but it sent him a bill for 747 euros (nearly $850) a month — more than he had been paying for an entire year. “I am a retiree,” he said, looking over the stack of paperwork spread out on his dining room table. “That is more than what I can afford.” But Backhaus, who lives in a three-story house in Saxony, has an alternative that might make him the envy of the millions of other Germans stuck with high energy bills: He has a large wood stove in his living room and, in his basement next to his gas-fired furnace, a furnace that burns coal or wood. The stove and furnace, installed before the house was connected to a gas main, allow him to turn down the dial on his radiators to just 18 degrees Celsius, or 64 Fahrenheit, essentially cutting his gas bill in half. “I still have a reserve of coal briquettes and stacks of dried wood,” he said, poking another log into the stove. “But this is only temporary. It is not a long-term solution.” Most people don’t have the option of burning wood or coal, relying instead on piling on layers of clothing. In Britain, the government’s price cap on energy bills was recently raised 54%, increasing annual charges to 1,971 pounds. That increase will affect 22 million households beginning in April, contributing to broadening worries in Britain about the rising cost of living. Similar concerns can be found throughout the continent. Athina Sirogianni, 46, a freelance translator in Athens, Greece, said she remembered fondly the day about a decade ago when her building switched from oil to natural gas. The move cut her utility bill in half. Now, her heating bill is nearly triple last year’s. “I keep trying to think of where I can cut spending so I can afford the bills,” she said, adding that she hasn’t visited the hairdresser in nearly a year, and has pared back her food shopping to the essentials. ‘The more we produce, the more we lose’ The price of energy is also forcing shutdowns or slowing production at manufacturers across Europe, even as they are eager to fill a backlog of orders and resume levels of business from before the pandemic. The smelting industry has been especially hit hard. Nyrstar, the world’s second-largest zinc processor, produces nearly 500 tons of the metal each day at a sprawling factory in Auby, in northern France, a complex that consumes as much energy as the French city of Lyon. When its electrical rates surged from 35 euros to 50 euros per megawatt-hour to 400 euros in December, it made no sense to keep the factory running, said Xavier Constant, Nyrstar France’s general manager. At that rate, he said, “the more we produce, the more we lose,” and so the plant shut down last month for three weeks. Nyrstar temporarily halved production at its other European plants in October when the energy crisis set in, prompting a brief spike in the global price of zinc. Last fall, fertilizer plants in Britain were forced to close because of gas prices. And several German companies that produce glass, steel and fertilizer have also scaled back production in recent months. To ease the burden of the high prices, the government in Berlin reduced by half an energy surcharge on bills aimed at funding the country’s transition to renewable sources of power, and plans to phase it out by the end of next year. But industry leaders say that is not soon enough. Almost two-thirds of the 28,000 companies surveyed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry this month rated energy prices as one of their biggest business risks. For those in the industrial sector, the figure was as high as 85%. Small businesses, too, are scrambling for ways to cut costs. Pilar Ballesteros Parra, who co-owns Ronsel, a dry cleaning business in Madrid that employs 10 people, said that her company’s electricity rates had risen about 20% from the previous year. In reaction, she has reorganized her employees’ work schedule, starting the early shift earlier and pushing the late shift further into the evening so the dry-cleaning equipment can run when rates are lowest. She is also installing solar panels on the company’s building, outside of the Spanish capital, so that Ronsel can generate at least 60% of its own energy. The government is helping her with a 35% subsidy of the $45,000 investment. “Our building faces southwest and gets a lot of sun, so that means that we should be almost self-sustainable during the coming months of spring and summer, which will be a big relief,” she said. Still, she said, the energy crunch and overall price inflation meant that she saw little chance of sparing her customers some of the burden. “There’s clearly this electricity headache, but there’s also now wage inflation and much higher gas bills for our vans,” she said. “In a few months, it’s clear that some of these costs will have to be passed on to our clients if we want to keep going.” For public budgets, ‘like riding a roller coaster’ A broad range of public institutions are facing strains from higher power bills. In Poland, hospitals that have already been financially stretched by the coronavirus pandemic now question if they can keep their doors open. “Managing a hospital in Poland is more and more like riding a roller coaster,” Robert Suroweic, who manages the Provincial Hospital in Gorzow, said on Twitter. He said the facility’s electricity prices had increased 100%. He and other hospital directors have appealed to the government in Warsaw to intervene, saying the recent cuts to taxes on energy and gasoline were not enough. In Germany, there is rising tension in municipally owned utilities that must accept customers, like Backhaus in Saxony, whose relatively low-cost contracts have been dropped by private energy companies because the companies can’t pay ballooning energy rates. The municipal utilities are forced to increase the rates for these new customers, often almost astronomically high, to cover the cost of buying extra energy on the spot market at record prices. That leads to tensions in communities, and can threaten municipal finances. “Anyone who wants to will be supplied with energy by the municipal utilities,” said Markus Lewe, president of the German Association of Cities and Towns. “But it must not lead to the municipal utilities and their loyal customers being asked to pay for questionable business models of other providers and having to answer for their shortsighted financing.” He called on the federal government to intervene, to protect cities from the price instability. In France, local leaders are also looking to the federal government to help ease the sting of skyrocketing energy bills. Boris Ravignon, the mayor of Charleville-Mézières, said his city is facing “a catastrophe” after its January energy bill more than tripled, wiping out the region’s budget surplus for infrastructure and public services in a single month. The city is trying to cut costs by switching streetlights to LED bulbs, which use less electricity, and has proposed a new hydroelectric project. The mayor has already frozen planned hirings and said the city may have no choice but to raise the cost of public services like water, transportation, fees to use sports halls like the city’s public pool, and cultural events. “We really want to protect citizens from these increases,” Ravignon said. “But when prices reach such crazy heights, it’s impossible.”

How Europeans are responding to exorbitant gas and power bills

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