The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was ready to provide gas to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, but needed logistical support from Moldova to make that happen.

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.

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.

Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region expects to receive Russian gas again soon to meet its needs, its leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said on Wednesday, two weeks into crippling power cuts in the Russian-backed enclave.

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.

"Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies — betrayal and isolation," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Jan. 3.

The energy crisis in Transnistria is being used as a tool of Russian blackmail against Moldova, claims OSW expert Kamil Całus. "Moscow is exploiting the situation for propaganda purposes and to influence Moldovan voters,

Moldovan citizens will vote this year in parliamentary elections. There is a risk that their vote will derail Chisinau's European course. Only time will tell how Europe will react, Vitalie Cojocari writes.