The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

Moldovan citizens will vote this year in parliamentary elections. There is a risk that their vote will derail Chisinau's European course. Only time will tell how Europe will react, Vitalie Cojocari writes.

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.

One option is Russia to start shipments through the Balkan corridor (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania), without Moldova paying off the arrears, an analyst explained.

A humanitarian catastrophe is looming for the 367,000 inhabitants of Transnistria, a region of Moldova living under pro-Russian separatist control. Counting on rising discontent in both Transnistria and Moldova ahead of the parliamentary elections,

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.