Moldova’s Transnistria region has been thrust into an energy crisis following the termination of a gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Authorities in Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region on Sunday cut off gas supplies to several state institutions as a deal allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine comes to an end at the close of the year.
The blow to Transdniestria was immediate. Households' central heating and hot water were cut off, and nearly all industrial enterprise was shut down.
Kyiv has finally turned off Russia’s gas supply to Europe, ending a source of income that helped pay for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The decades-old deal, which allowed the transit of natural gas produced by Russian energy giant Gazprom through Ukraine, ended at midnight on December 31, shutting down Russia’s last major gas corridor to Europe.
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.
Russian Gazprom's decision to halt gas supplies to Moldova resulted in a heating outage in the Russian-controlled region of Transnistria, prompting Chisinau to seek alternative sources of electricity.
Russian natural gas has stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine after a five-year transit contract expired.
Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed the U.S. for the decision, saying it will impact "the standard of living of European citizens."
UBC engineering professor Ray Taheri will celebrate Eastern Orthodox Christmas this week in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, with plans to share a bit of joy during difficult times.
This matters because, if true, all it would take to stop the bloodshed is for the West to close the door to NATO and stop sending Ukraine weapons. If not, those decisions would simply help the Kremlin achieve its goals of territorial conquest, and promise a widening radius for destabilization.
Though the avowed purpose of Ukraine and Western nations of the non-extension of the gas transit agreement is to give a material blow to the Russian economy, its real consequences in terms of strategic,