A couple of interesting articles
Europe Still Clings to Russia Gas With Record LNG Flow This Year
Bloomberg) — The European Union boosted imports of Russian liquefied natural gas against the backdrop of deepening tensions over pipeline supplies that flow through Ukraine.
The bloc purchased a record amount of Russian LNG this year, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Among top buyers, France has already hit its highest-ever volumes and Spain is closing in on records seen last year.
The numbers show that Europe is still hooked on energy from Russia, which remains one of the continent’s top gas providers despite severe cuts in supplies in 2022. While officials in the EU and Kyiv have called for a halt in purchases, there’s still no region-wide ban on the fuel and it remains a cheaper option for many buyers.
Countries such as the UK, Germany and the Baltic states have stopped taking Russian gas altogether.
But once Russian LNG is regasified in France, Belgium or the Netherlands, and enters the grid, molecules mix and can flow freely to other nations.
Molecules mix and Russian gas becomes French or Belgium gas! See how that works?
Ukraine Blames Russia for Cyberattack on Critically Important Infrastructure
Ukraine blames Russia for mega cyberattack on ‘critically important’ infrastructure
“The enemy is trying to use this situation in its information operations to sow panic among citizens of Ukraine and abroad,” says Kyiv’s deputy PM.
Ukraine Friday blamed Russia for a major cyberattack on crucial government databases.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna wrote on Facebook earlier on Friday that the “largest external cyberattack on [the] state registers of Ukraine in recent times” had taken place.
“It is already clear that the attack was carried out by the Russians with the aim of disrupting the work of the critically important infrastructure of the state,” Stefanishyna said.
The cyberattack took place while Russian forces hit Kyiv with a huge ballistic missile attack, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s grinding multiyear assault on Ukraine shows no signs of letting up.
The group claiming to be responsible for the attack said in a post on the Telegram channel “XakNet Team” that it had also targeted backup servers in Poland.
POLITICO has not been able to verify that claim.“The enemy is trying to use this situation in its information operations to sow panic among citizens of Ukraine and abroad,” Stefanishyna wrote about the cyber warfare.
As a result of the attack, the Unified and State Registers were temporarily suspended, Stefanishyna said. State registries are government records of information like people’s civil status and property rights.
The attack has not affected the functioning of other services, she said. Russia has hit Ukraine with constant cyberattacks during the war, including on energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian specialists are working to restore access to the databases, prioritizing registers for citizens’ civil status, legal entities and real estate rights, Stefanishyna said. That should take about two weeks, she said.