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COPANCA, Moldova (AP) \u2014 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 using a small gas lamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit hard without electricity,\u201d said the former deputy school director who has stockpiled firewood to ensure he can use his wood burning stove in the room he shares with his wife to stay warm. \u201cThere\u2019s still gas \u2026 but it will end soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The village of Copanca is situated just several kilometers across the de facto border from Moldova\u2019s separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region<\/a>, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heating and hot water after Russia halted gas supplies to the region<\/a> on Jan. 1, over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies to Moldova.<\/p>\n See for yourself \u2014 The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The decision by Russia\u2019s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, which came into effect a day after a gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expired<\/a>, halted gas supplies to Transnistria\u2019s gas-operated Kuciurgan power plant, the country\u2019s largest, which provided a significant portion of Moldova\u2019s electricity.<\/p>\n Copanca, like over a dozen other towns or villages administered by Moldovan authorities in the capital Chisinau but situated close to Transnistria, remains interconnected to the separatist region\u2019s Soviet-era energy infrastructure leaving them vulnerable amid the energy crisis.<\/p>\n Planned daily electrical outages throughout Transnistria \u2014 which includes Copanca \u2014 are currently scheduled for four hours twice a day. While the Kuciurgan power plant transitioned to coal and has led to some unexpected outages, some residual gas remained in the pipes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to get by with the electricity and gas shortages,\u201d said Donici. \u201cYesterday, we were without power for eight hours. Everyone is scratching their heads, figuring out what to do, so they don\u2019t freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing findings by British and Norwegian audit firms, Moldova\u2019s pro-Western government claims its debt stands close to $8.6 million, and has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy to destabilize the European Union candidate country<\/a>. Russia has denied it is meddling in Moldova.<\/p>\n Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean this week accused Russia of artificially creating an energy crisis to cause \u201cinstability in the region\u201d and \u201cto influence the results of the parliamentary elections\u201d that Moldova will hold later in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they want to achieve is to have a pro-Russian government in Moldova that would ultimately allow for the consolidation of the military capacity of Russia in the Transnistrian region, and correspondingly to use this leverage over Ukraine,\u201d Recean told journalists in a closed call with other senior officials on Monday.<\/p>\n Transnistria \u2014 which broke away after a short war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries \u2014 declared a state of emergency last month as the gas crisis loomed. A large majority of Transnistria\u2019s roughly 350,000 people speak Russian as their first language and some 200,000 are Russian citizens. Russia also bases about 1,500 troops in a so-called frozen conflict zone as \u201cpeacekeepers.\u201d<\/p>\n Moldova has repeatedly claimed Russia is conducting a sprawling \u201chybrid war\u201d against it by meddling in elections<\/a>, funding anti-government protests and running vast disinformation campaigns to try to topple the government<\/a> and derail the country\u2019s EU aspirations.<\/p>\n Last month, Moldova\u2019s parliament also voted to impose a state of emergency<\/a> in the energy sector, as the crisis threatened to leave the former Soviet republic without sufficient energy this winter, and fears that the situation could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria, where temperatures often drop to subzero degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n The looming crisis also prompted Chisinau to implement a series of energy-saving measures beginning Jan. 1, which include reducing lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30%, and energy-intensive businesses operating during off-peak hours.<\/p>\n Moldova’s state energy company, Energocom, has increased electricity purchases from neighboring Romania to ensure capacity but are also more costly. Although a mild January is helping matters, energy prices have increased and the government has said it will provide help to offset bills.<\/p>\nTrusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox<\/h3>\n