The Russian leadership is notorious for its trolls, who spread provocation and misinformation online, President Vladimir Putin is known for his intimidation tactics learned from the KGB. Now the regime seems to have grabbed this bag of tricks again: A video is circulating online with a clear message: Due to the Russian gas supplies, Europe will be threatened with freezing cold this coming winter (see above).
Online it is often claimed that the Russian energy company published the video itself. This could not be verified by krone.at. In any case, it cannot be found on the company’s official online channels. But it fits perfectly with the menacing backdrop that the Kremlin has built. If the West does not lift sanctions against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, there will be no gas, is the thinly veiled message.
In the otherwise uncommented video you see a Gazprom employee turning off the supply, the gas pressure needle points to zero. This is followed by shots of European cities such as Brussels, Paris, Brussels and London in winter, covered in snow and swept by cold winds.
“Only Darkness and Snow”
The clip is accompanied by a female voice singing about the cold season in the song “А зима будет большая” (“Winter is getting long”) – the original comes from the Soviet bard Yuri Vizbor. The song ends with the gloomy line “And the winter will be long – only darkness and snow”. According to the Kremlin, that is what the European Union expects because of a lack of gas. The lyrics also have another “prophecy” ready: “Blue Russia weeps, it will become falling leaves.”
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, shared the video on Twitter, writing: “Do you really think you can kill thousands of Ukrainians, occupy the territory of another country and Europe will look the other way out of fear? for gas blackmail?”
Kremlin blames Europe for gas freeze
Russian gas no longer flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Gazprom has always found other excuses for the delays and cutbacks in deliveries. Currently there are alleged design flaws in a turbine from Siemens Energy, the company contradicts this representation.
Despite the supply freeze, the US government has recently shown confidence in supplying gas to its European allies. “European gas storage facilities will be full in time for the critical winter heating season,” a National Security Council spokesman in Washington said on Tuesday. The US and Europe worked together “to ensure the supply of sufficient natural gas”. The US spokesman emphasized that Russia itself had decided to stop gas supply via the German-Russian Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Moscow’s statements that the sanctions imposed as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine were the cause of the supply freeze were “simply wrong”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
