(Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited areas hit by rolling power cuts on Thursday and blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for the energy crisis gripping the country's Transdniestria pro-Russian separatist enclave. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moldova and Ukraine were responsible for the heating and power shortages.

Ukraine’s decision to end the gas transit deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom has been hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as one of Moscow’s biggest defeats. Today, the transit of Russian gas is zero.

Nearly all employees of Russian energy giant Gazprom, who work on the Nord Stream and Turkish Stream gas pipelines, left the European Union last year. Source: Russian online newspaper The Moscow Times,

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.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the east European country.

Ukrainian transit gas deal to Europe ended on Jan. 1. For now, the most acute effects are being felt in a region called Transnistria, on the eastern edge of Moldova.

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is embroiled in war and plagued by systemic decay — and Donald Trump can exploit its weakness to end its campaign of global instability.

Gazprom said Moldovagaz “regularly fails to fulfill its payment obligations under the existing contract, which is a significant breach of its terms.”View on euronews

The move was connected with, but not required by, the expiration at the end of 2024 of Russia’s contract with Ukraine for transit of natural gas to Europe. The looming energy crisis is likely to have a strong negative effect on Moldova’s ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) in parliamentary elections due in the second half of 2025.

Moscow blames Ukraine and Moldova for halting supplies; Chisinau suspects Russia seeks to influence upcoming election.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the east European country Russia’s state-owned energy ...

Russia's Gazprom announced Saturday that it will halt gas supplies to Moldova from January 1 over a debt dispute during a state of emergency over energy security in the tiny country. Moldova's prime minister denounced what he called "oppressive tactics".