Live, war in Ukraine: Ukraine confirms having attacked an oil site in Russia

“Russia continues to use gas as a weapon and Moldova is once again the target of its hybrid war”denounced Tuesday evening on X, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, while the pro-Russian separatist Moldovan territory of Transnistria has no longer been supplied with Russian gas since the beginning of January.

The diplomat spoke with the Moldovan Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, to “reaffirm unwavering solidarity” of the European Union (EU) with Moldova, she said. “Thanks to EU support, Moldova remains resilient and well connected to European energy networks”assured M^me Kallas.

Tension is rising between Russia and Moldova, where the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria fears it will find itself completely without electricity after the end of Russian gas supplies.

The large Russian industrial group Gazprom announced in December the cessation of deliveries to Moldova, in the context of a financial dispute with this former Soviet republic with European aspirations. The conflict over the amount of the debt to settle with Gazprom – estimated at more than 700 million dollars (approximately 675 million euros) by Moscow, but estimated at only around 9 million by Chisinau – pushed the company to cut the tap from 1^er January.

The rest of Moldova has so far been spared from the cuts, but depends for a large part of its electricity needs on the Cuciurgan thermal power station, located in Transnistria. This important infrastructure, which produced up to 80% of Moldova's electricity production, has not been supplying since 1^er January more than the territory of Transnistria and runs on coal, with reserves expected to last until the end of January, mid-February at most.

“Russia has only one goal: to cause instability in the region and above all to influence the results of the legislative elections” scheduled for the fall, the Moldovan Prime Minister denounced to the foreign press.

Closing the tap at 1^er January corresponds to the end of Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine, a decision taken by kyiv due to the war. But after the end of the Ukrainian transit, Moscow could “deliver gas through the TurkStream pipeline but refuses to do so”accused Mr. Recean, at the head of a pro-European government.