In the capital of Transnistria, a Kremlin-backed microstate sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine, the festive New Year’s lights have gone dark ahead of schedule. This separatist sliver of Moldova will run out of energy in three weeks,

Moldova's prime minister told AFP on Wednesday the international community is ready to offer gas to end the energy crisis in Transnistria but a lasting solution hinges on Russia withdrawing its troops from the separatist region.

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 supported by Moscow,

Since Russia stopped delivering gas to Moldova, Valera Alexandru Sava only heats the ground floor of his two-storey house and often wears a coat and hat inside.

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 company is said to have booked about 3.1 million cubic metres per day of the Russia-designed TurkStream gas pipeline for a month from February 1. Russian troops must withdraw from Transnistria for a lasting solution to end the enclave’s energy crisis,

Moldova and its separatist Transdniestria region inched towards a deal on Monday to allow gas to flow to residents of the rebel enclave, who have been suffering from power and heating cuts since the start of the year.

Russia has long used its plentiful energy resources as a tool to exert control over the region, where independence from Russian energy is tied to political sovereignty.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heating and hot water after Russia halted gas supplies to the region on Jan. 1, over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies.

Every time planned electrical outages are imposed on his village in southern Moldova, 73-year-old retiree Vasili Donici passes the time by solving crosswords and puzzles in a room he illuminates using a small gas lamp.

This separatist sliver of Moldova will run out of energy in three weeks, the head of its Russia-backed government has said. Once proud, go-it-alone and richer than their neighbors in Moldova ...

The American Institute for the Study of War sees the situation in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria as similar to the rhetoric used by Russia against Ukraine before the war. Transnistria, the separatist region of Moldova where Russian troops are stationed,