EU gas blockade marching Russia towards 'economic collapse' as Putin has 'no exit routes'
VLADIMIR PUTIN will bring Russia to "economic collapse" if Gazprom cuts off gas to other EU countries, a former Gazprombank top executive has said.
Putin ‘marching towards Russia’s economic collapse’ says expert
A former executive of Russia’s state-owned Gazprombank has left Putin’s Russia in dissent to join Ukraine’s forces in their fight against Russian troops in the capital Kyiv. His departure came after the Gazprom gas giant cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. Gazprom threatened in a statement with following suit with other European Union countries that fail to comply with Putin’s demand of paying for gas in roubles. If Gazprom executes its threat, Igor Volobuev warned, Russia’s economy will freefall.
Former vice-president of Gazprombank Igor Volobuev told CNN: “Putin is resolutely marching towards an economic collapse in Russia.
“Gradually, the entire Europe is going to stop deliveries because Europe is not going to pay them in roubles.
“However, Mr Volobuev says, stopping energy trade with the EU will not stop Putin.
“Will it stop him? Well, probably not because he’s ideologically committed to this war.
“This is not going to stop Putin immediately because look, even though they’ve stopped gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, that’s just nine percent of gas sales.
“So, it’s not going to dent them immediately.
“He’s left himself no exit routes. He’s covered in blood. And the economic collapse is not going to stop him, it will hurt the Russian people.
“What will stop him is probably a regime change or his own death.”
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Igor Volobuev, a Ukrainian national, left Russia “to wash off his Russian past” and said he would stay in Ukraine “until the victory”.
“I am Ukrainian by nationality. I was born in Akhtyrka (Sumy region). I could no longer observe from the outside what Russia is doing with my Motherland.”
Speaking to the Insider, he said: “This is an international crime in the part of Putin, the Russian authorities and in fact, the Russian people.
“Because it is not Putin who kills Ukrainians here, it is not Putin who steals toilet bowls, it is not Putin who rapes women. This is the Russian people.”
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His remarks come as Europe’s human rights parliament has adopted a resolution urging all its members to set up an international criminal tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian politicians and soldiers reportedly committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Two former Russian executives of Gazprom and their families have been found dead in strange circumstances. One of them was reportedly hanged.
The death toll in the Kyiv region keeps rising, as Ukrainian authorities have recovered the bodies of 1,150 civilians since Russia’s invasion began.