Transnistria faces extended power outages amid Russian gas cut-off

Transnistria, the breakaway region in Moldova, imposed a second day of rolling blackouts on Saturday after a shutdown in Russian gas supplies left the pro-Moscow enclave without energy.

The self-proclaimed republic, which borders Ukraine, has been unable to provide heating or hot water to its residents since Wednesday, when Russia cut off gas supplies to Moldova due to a financial dispute.

Transnistria’s government announced on social media messaging service Telegram that parts of the largest city, Tiraspol, along with smaller towns and villages, would experience rolling blackouts for three hours on Saturday.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the region’s pro-Russian leader, said the outages could be extended as energy supplies dwindle. “Today it is three hours. Specialists insist on increasing the pauses in electricity supply from tomorrow to four hours,” Krasnoselsky said.

Transnistria’s largest power station has switched to burning coal in an attempt to alleviate the energy crisis, but industry in the region has mostly ground to a halt. Authorities have urged residents to gather firewood to stay warm.

The crisis follows a double blow: the cutoff of gas supplies from Russia and the end of a key gas transit deal between Moscow and Ukraine. Transnistria, which houses fewer than half a million people, has been controlled by pro-Russian forces since the Soviet Union collapsed, though it remains internationally recognized as part of Moldova.

Moldova, seeking closer ties with the European Union, has long been a point of tension between Moscow and the West.