KHARKIV, Ukraine — Moscow on Wednesday turned off the natural-gas spigot to the front-line Eastern European states of Poland and Bulgaria, signaling its willingness to take sharp economic aim at those who aid Ukraine.
Russian forces, meanwhile, rained shells on eastern Ukraine as they pressed ahead with their devastating 2-month-old invasion.
Addressing the first such supply disruption since the war’s start, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov strongly hinted that other European economies may be next. He told reporters Wednesday that if some customers “decline to pay under the new system” Russia has instituted — meaning in rubles instead of dollars or euros — they “of course” could face the same treatment.
