Germany’s Nuclear Renaissance and the Ukrainian Paradox: How the Kremlin Used “Greens” and Oligarchs to De-energize Europe

🇩🇪 Germany: How “Ecology” Masked the Gas Noose

In 2011, under the influence of the Fukushima disaster, Angela Merkel’s government decided to phase out nuclear energy. To the applause of the Greens, Germany consistently shut down all 17 of its nuclear reactors, abandoning stable and cheap generation in favor of ephemeral “environmental safety.”

Who benefited from this decision?

• Russia, which increased gas supplies and thus secured not only super-profits but also strategic dependence from Europe’s largest economy.
• Oligarchs, close to the Kremlin, as well as German energy corporations that had invested in pipelines and “green” subsidies.
• Politicians lobbying for the “ecological” agenda, often directly or indirectly tied to Russian interests.

Even in 2022–2023, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the energy crisis engulfed Europe, the Scholz government and the Greens continued pushing the anti-nuclear line, shutting down the last three reactors.

Now — a reversal. With Friedrich Merz taking office, Germany acknowledges its mistake: Europe cannot survive without nuclear energy.

“This is a turning point for Germany,” — Financial Times.

Berlin agrees to remove barriers from EU legislation that hinder the development of nuclear energy and seeks alignment with France, which had been advocating for this since 2022.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: The Destruction of Nuclear Energy Without Any “Fukushima”

If in Germany nuclear energy was dismantled under environmental slogans, in Ukraine it all happened more simply and cynically.

• Since the early 2000s, under governmental inaction, a systematic strangling of nuclear energy began: investments were cut, tariffs for nuclear power were artificially lowered, while tariffs for gas and “green” energy skyrocketed.
• Preference was given to structures connected with Russian gas and Ukrainian oligarchs. The main beneficiaries were Akhmetov (a monopoly on “green” generation) and Firtash (a gas distributor closely linked to the Kremlin).
• The national energy commission essentially zeroed out Energoatom’s revenues manually, creating a deficit and stimulating a shift toward gas boilers and expensive “green” generation.

The result:

• Ukraine, with some of the most powerful nuclear plants in Europe, began importing energy resources from Russia en masse;
• Citizens paid three times more for electricity and heat;
• The “green mafia” together with the “gas lobby” reaped the profits and cemented their control.

Unlike in Germany, Ukraine didn’t need any “Fukushima” to dismantle its nuclear industry — just corruption, dependency, and compliant ministers.

📉 The Price of Abandoning Nuclear: Dependency, Poverty, Vulnerability

Both countries — Germany and Ukraine — fell victim to the same model: by artificially choking their nuclear generation, they became:

• Dependent on energy imports (primarily from Russia);
• Influenced by lobbies masked as environmental or economic concerns;
• Energetically vulnerable in times of geopolitical storms.

The difference is that Germany has now woken up and is taking a step back, while Ukraine still clings to cheap populism and expensive “green” rent.

🛑 Conclusion: Who Wins When Nuclear Power Is Shut Down?

• Russia — gets dependent gas consumers;
• Oligarchs — control tariffs and subsidies;
• “Green” politicians — simulate an ecological struggle while lobbying expensive and unstable energy sources.

And the losers are — the citizens, who pay triple for heat and light, and the states, which lose their energy independence and economic sovereignty.

📌 Today, Germany has returned to common sense. Will Ukraine return to its nuclear strength — one of the last real trump cards in the fight for independence?