White Horse In Play: Russia Confirms Satan Soldiers in Europe ‘Significantly Increased Gas Purchases,’ Funding Ukraine War, Plandemic Has Surfaced, and Hippocrates Is Fleeing For Cover Oh, the Rats are Leaping From the Ship

HNewsWire: According to the Russian news outlet Tass, European governments "substantially boosted their gas imports from Russia" this year, despite worldwide demands to boycott the country due to its continuing conflict in Ukraine.

According to Tass, an official spokeswoman for Russia's natural gas business Gazprom acknowledged that Europe not only continued to buy gas from Russia, but also received supplies across Ukrainian territory.

Since 2014, when Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in the pretext of supposedly safeguarding ethnic Russians from Ukrainian government aggression, Russia has backed rebels in eastern Ukraine in a fight against Kyiv. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that, rather than relying on proxies, his government would deploy its military troops into Ukraine for a "special operation" aimed at "de-nazifying" the country. Putin said at the time that the Ukrainian government was a "Nazi" organization – despite the fact that President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish – and that Ukraine had "no tradition" of being a true nation.

On Monday, February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the country at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Putin's recognition of the independence of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine has exacerbated relations with the West. (Alexei

On Monday, February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the country from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.

Zelensky replied to the operation – which enlarged the field of combat well beyond the eastern Donbas region into the capital, Kyiv, and key urban centers such as the port of Mariupol – by stating that Ukraine will wage war to eliminate Russia's presence on its soil. Zelensky's regime distributed thousands of rifles, taught locals how to create homemade Molotov cocktails, and cleared jails of individuals with military expertise who might best resist Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy observes the Ministry of Internal Affairs' exercises during his working visit to Ukraine's Kherson area on Saturday, February 12, 2022.

The European Union and others on the continent have adopted a strong position in favor of Ukraine, renewing their condemnation of Russia's eight-year-old conflict in the country. However, since many of their economies are strongly reliant on Russian natural gas, oil, and coal, European governments have mostly failed to translate their words into effective action. Their purchases subsidize the Russian state and, as a result, the conflict they claim to oppose.

"Gazprom distributes Russian gas for transit via Ukraine's territory on a daily basis in response to European customers' demands - 56 million cubic meters as of April 20," Gazprom official Sergey Kupriyanov told Tass.

Russia's primary export is energy, including oil and gas, and European nations account for more than half of the top ten buyers of Russian goods. The Russian government owns and controls the majority of Gazprom, thereby turning it into a state-owned enterprise. Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear early in his tenure that he wanted to grow Gazprom into a regional economic juggernaut, purchasing additional shares in 2003 and sharing power with then-Gazprom Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, who rose to become President during Putin's tenure as Prime Minister and now heads the Russian Security Council.

Apart from supplying energy to the Russian economy and Putin's government, Gazprom has direct links to the Russian military. The corporation has made reference in news releases to its involvement in "Russia's military-industrial complex" and its eagerness to work with Russian military activities.
The 'Gazprom Germania' logo is shown on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at the company's headquarters in Berlin, Germany.

The 'Gazprom Germania' logo is shown on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at the company's headquarters in Berlin, Germany.

At a ceremony to sign several agreements to assist in the development of technology In 2017, Gazprom stated in a press release that it sought a role in "expanding cooperation and expanding the use of scientific and technological capacities of the MIC [military-industrial complex] in the development of cutting-edge technologies and equipment, including import-substituting equipment, for the gas industry."

Gazprom's links to Russia's military have cost it some business in the West - the American corporation Shell, for example, promptly abandoned cooperative projects with Gazprom after Putin's February order to bomb Kyiv. Europe, on the other hand, has mainly refused to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas or oil, owing to fears in Germany, in particular, that reducing Russian gas imports would ruin the economy.

According to Tass, rather than reducing its gas imports, "Europe has lately dramatically boosted its gas purchases from Russia, despite increasing spot prices caused by cold weather, a lack of wind, and the deterioration of the Ukrainian situation."

Since Putin began his "special operation" in Ukraine in February, the European Union has confessed spending €35 billion (about $38 billion) on Russian energy in general, including natural gas.

"There are proposals for a comprehensive ban on Russian coal imports starting in August, although their worth is significantly less than that of oil and gas," Euronews reported this week.

Germany, which is highly reliant on Russian imports, has been the most vocal opponent of Ukraine-related sanctions.

In March, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that "Europe purposefully spared Russia's energy exports from sanctions." "At the moment, there is no alternative option to ensure Europe's energy supply for heating, transportation, power generation, and industry. It is consequently critical for public services and the everyday lives of our inhabitants."

Scholz is under intense pressure from energy sector unions, who last week expressed their opposition to any boycott of Russian gas.
JUNE 12, BERLIN, GERMANY: On June 12, 2020 in Berlin, Germany, German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier (not seen) address the media about the new economic stimulus package in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Germany's government has unveiled a EUR 130 billion economic stimulus plan that includes tax cuts, purchasing and investment incentives, assistance to small and medium-sized firms, and social assistance measures.

Olaf Scholz, then-German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor, now Chancellor, talks to the media in Berlin, Germany, on June 12, 2020.

"A rapid gas embargo would result in production losses, plant closures, further de-industrialization, and long-term job losses in Germany," Rainer Dulger, chairman of the BDA employer group, and Reiner Hoffmann, chairman of the DGB trade union confederation, said in a joint statement Monday, according to the Associated Press.

Europe's reliance on Russian fuel has drawn attention, particularly in light of Russia's vows to back Ukraine.

"Not only has the Russian ruble recovered to pre-invasion levels, but the Germans continue to purchase massive quantities of gas and oil. Germany and other EU member states are supporting Putin's war machine," British Conservative Party leader Nigel Farage said in early April.

Russia has vowed to reduce its own gas shipments if Europe imposes severe sanctions on its other sectors.

"Today, Europe uses around 500 billion cubic meters of gas per year, 40% of which is supplied by Russia," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak remarked in March. "We have every right to respond and place an embargo on gas produced via Nord Stream 1, which is now fully operational."
On October 19, 2017 in Sassnitz, Germany, a worker walks in front of stacked pipes at the Nord Stream 2 plant at Mukran on Ruegen Island. Nord Stream is constructing a second pair of offshore pipes in the Baltic Sea, connecting Russia's Vyborg to Germany's Greifswald, to transfer Russian natural gas to western Europe. The first pair of pipes began operation in 2012, and the second pair is scheduled to be completed in 2019. At the moment, Mukran has a total of 50,000 pipes on hand, which are wrapped in concrete before being hauled out to sea. Gazprom, a Russian energy company run by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on its board of directors, holds a 51 percent share in Nord Stream. (Image courtesy of Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

On October 19, 2017, near Sassnitz, Germany, a worker walks in front of stacked pipes at the Nord Stream 2 plant at Mukran on Ruegen Island.

Germany had planned a second similar pipeline, Nord Stream 2, with Russia, which has long been a source of contention in Ukraine. For the time being, the project was shelved in the immediate wake of February's invasion.