Germany in the gas trap: reconstruction of a state failure

Brussels In hindsight, one is always wiser, even as Chancellor. The Russian campaign of conquest against Ukraine had been planned well in advance, Olaf Scholz told the US television station CBS at the most recent NATO summit, with the sun-drenched roofs of Madrid behind him. Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin has prepared: “I think the decision for this war was made a year before, maybe even earlier,” said Scholz.

Part of Putin’s preparations could be seen from space. Satellite images showed early on that the Russian military was massing tanks, helicopters and rocket launchers on the Ukrainian border. Another part of the preparations remained hidden for a long time, although it too would have been recognizable. The weapon in this covert operation: natural gas.