Hundreds of thousands of people in Transnistria face a harsh winter without heating after the Kremlin-backed local leadership declined offers to secure alternatives to Russian gas following the sudden cutoff of supplies at the start of the year, documents obtained by POLITICO reveal.
According to a letter from Transnistria’s Tiraspoltransgaz, dated Thursday, the breakaway region rejected an offer from counterparts in Moldova, offering support to buy fuel from the European market.
The unrecognized state declared independence from Moldova in the 1990s and has maintained its de facto independence with the support of more than 1,000 Russian soldiers stationed there. Moscow historically shipped natural gas to the territory free of charge, but state energy firm Gazprom ended exports Wednesday.
Apartment buildings and business across the region have been left without heating and hot water as a result of the shut-off, with residents told to insulate their homes as temperatures drop to below zero degrees Celsius.
