The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was ready to provide gas to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, but needed logistical support from Moldova to make that happen. Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the separatist enclave,

The Russian authorities and the leadership of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria are reportedly exploring a plan to supply gas to the region through purchases on the European spot market, facilitated by an intermediary company,

The head of Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria has urged residents to burn firewood for heating and warned that blackouts cannot be avoided, after Moscow stopped supplying gas via Ukraine.

Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region expects to receive Russian gas again soon to meet its needs, its leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said on Wednesday, two weeks into crippling power cuts in the Russian-backed enclave.

The end of Russian natural-gas transit across Ukraine is a blow to Moscow, but it could provide the Kremlin with sharpened tool for economic and political influence over a key target country: Moldova.

"Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies — betrayal and isolation," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Jan. 3.

The prime minister of Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region said on Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports.

Moscow breakaway region of Transnistria halted almost all industrial activity except for food production, following the end of Russian gas flows through Ukraine, Interfax reported.

The energy crisis in Transnistria is being used as a tool of Russian blackmail against Moldova, claims OSW expert Kamil Całus. "Moscow is exploiting the situation for propaganda purposes and to influence Moldovan voters,