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To Berlin-based entrepreneur Karolina Attspodina, it is an especially troubling reality, as the European energy crisis revealed how much Germany needs Russia's oil and gas exports to simply function.

"I'm pretty frustrated," said Attspodina, 34, who was born in Ukraine. "And it not just me. A lot of people are. How could we get to this stage that we're so reliant on somebody else, especially Russia?"

Last year, Attspodina co-founded a company to empower Germans to rely a bit less on Russian energy: She sells solar panels that can be installed on apartment balconies and garages.

Here's how it works: The solar panels collect energy from the sun, which is then sent to a device, known as a microinverter, that is plugged into a power socket. The energy from the panels then becomes the initial source of energy for the household, ahead of power from the grid.

By the most optimistic measure, her solar panels can save residents up to 25% on their utility bills.

When Putin's forces invaded Ukraine earlier this year, her crusade against Germany's reliance on Russian oil and gas become even more personal.

"I can see my people dying over at home. I still have family and friends there," Attspodina said.

Other Germans, meanwhile, realized that the invasion meant energy prices at home would soon rise.

The war spiked sales of her solar panels by 70%, she said.

"I wish it never happened in this way, but everyone really understood in a new way that we needed to be more independent in terms of energy," she said.

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