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,

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.

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.

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.

Many Ukrainians have fled to Moldova to escape the war in their country. The Moldovan government has made the process easier to accommodate them. A shared history as former Soviet states, along with shared bilingualism,

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

Russian-owned gas giant Gazprom announced in December it would halt gas supplies to Moldova over a dispute over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies.

Moldova has not received any gas from Russia since Jan. 1, aleaving many homes uncomfortably cold. This hits the pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria the hardest, but it also puts the government in Chișinău under pressure.

The buzzing sound of chainsaws and generators is now common in Varnița, a village of 5,000 that borders Moldova's Russian-controlled region of Transnistria. Located next to the Russian-controlled city of Bender (Tighina),

The New Year got off to a bang across the region, with no shortage of political fireworks. This week's selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories looks at what the coming year may hold for some of the countries of South-East Europe.

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