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.

The blow to Transdniestria was immediate. Households' central heating and hot water were cut off, and nearly all industrial enterprise was shut down.

Kyiv has finally turned off Russia’s gas supply to Europe, ending a source of income that helped pay for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The decades-old deal, which allowed the transit of natural gas produced by Russian energy giant Gazprom through Ukraine, ended at midnight on December 31, shutting down Russia’s last major gas corridor to Europe.

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Authorities in Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region on Sunday cut off gas supplies to several state institutions as a deal allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine comes to an end at the close of the year.

Ukraine has halted Russian gas supplies to European customers through its pipeline network, almost three years into Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor

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.

Russian natural gas has stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine after a five-year transit contract expired.

Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed the U.S. for the decision, saying it will impact "the standard of living of European citizens."

Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies to Moldova has thrown the country into a "security crisis," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Jan. 3. The Russian state energy company Gazprom halted gas deliveries to Moldova on Jan.

Moldova may face a security crisis if Russia cuts off gas supplies to Transnistria. This is a threat to the country's stability and territorial integrity, stated Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean,