Note to Russia: Ukraine Would Be Better Off Going It Alone
... 2004, the Kremlin began to use its gas supplies to Europe as a political weapon against the new leadership of Ukraine. This policy eventually led to two major energy crises, also called the “gas wars,” in 2006 and 2009, when the flow of Russian gas via Ukraine was halted, resulting in gas outages across southeastern and eastern Europe. In the main, Russia’s coercive tactics against the Yushchenko government yielded some results: the Orange Revolution’s momentum subsided, and Viktor Yanukovich ...