The surge in energy bills stoked by the war in Ukraine is a price worth paying, a Ukrainian-born Senedd member who has just returned from the country said. Mick Antoniw drove a 4x4 containing ration packs, winter clothing, sleeping bags, and medical and cooking equipment to Lviv in the west of the country. It also had Starlink satellite communications equipment - effectively a back-up internet service - made by Elon Musk's firm SpaceX.
Vladimir Putin's invasion in February sent commodity prices soaring - especially gas - and pushed already rising inflation to levels not seen in the UK for decades. Governments are spending billions of pounds cushioning householders from the worst effects of the energy shock while scrambling to secure alternative supplies of hydrocarbons.
Mr Antoniw, who has relatives fighting in Ukraine and also relatives who live in Russia, said victory for the invaders would create further global instability and lead to countries spending more and more on defence. "The economic cost cannot be under-estimated if Putin is able to succeed," said the Labour MS for Pontypridd. He added that a wider message would be conveyed, that if you took somewhere by force you're entitled to do it.
