Every winter we hear about little old ladies who can’t afford their energy bill and live in small cold apartments. Well, it appears the Ukraine is playing that role these days. Russia’s energy company Gazprom has reduced the flow of natural gas to the Ukraine by 25% because of a delinquent bill. The former Soviet Republic owes Russia $600 million. The Ukraine, by far the largest importer of Russia’s natural gas,  has promised to pay the bill but says the reduction in gas output from Russia is not a major issue since the winter in that generally cold nation has been mild. Some believe Russia’s move was meant to show the region that she plans on continuing Putin’s strong hand. Russia and the Ukraine have a long history of tension culminating in Stalin’s decimation of the population of this largely agricultural country in the 1930s when he starved between seven and nine million Ukrainians after they failed to embrace his policies.

The closing of the oil spiket comes on the heels of the election in Russia of a new President, Dmitry Medvedev, who promises to have a more aggressive foreign policy. Anti-government rallies and dissent have been quashed in the wake of the election. Opposition parties have vocally referred to the election as a sham. Protests from  pro-Putin youths known as the Nashi rallying in front of the US Embassy against the occupation of Iraq and the US’s recognition of Kosovar independence were allowed to commence. Russia  historically has had strong ties with Serbia, the Baltic nation that recently lost the mostly Muslim state of Kosovo. Russia, no stranger to aggression throughout its long history, continues to flex its muscle in the region. The Cold War may be in the history books but that does not mean Russia as a Eurasian power has faded as well.