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

The tiny separatist republic bordering Ukraine has been unable to provide heating and hot water to residents since New Year’s Day, when Russia’s Gazprom turned off the spigot over a financial dispute

More than 51,000 households were left without gas and 1,500 apartment buildings had no winter heat in Moldova's pro-Russian separatist enclave, authorities said on Monday, as Moldova and Russia traded blame for an escalating energy crisis.

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.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has accused Russia of using "gas as a weapon" and waging a "hybrid war" in Moldova, where the breakaway region of Transnistria has been without Russian gas sinc 1.

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.

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 end of Russian natural-gas transit across Ukraine is a blow to Moscow, but it could provide the Kremlin with sharpened tool for economic and political influence over a key target country: Moldova.

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova, which is bracing for severe power cuts.

Moldova provides energy aid to Transdniester as the breakaway region faces a gas cutoff amid a dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

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