Tens of thousands of people in Transdniestria have been without gas or winter heating since Jan. 1 when Russia's Gazprom suspended gas exports to the region, citing an unpaid Moldovan debt of $709 million that Chisinau does not recognise as valid.

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.

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.

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

The pitbull mix arrived at Pasadena Humane covered in ash, his paw pads ulcerated from walking on fire debris, his lungs choked with smoke. A good Samaritan found the dog lying in rubble in Altadena, wrapped him in a blanket and brought him to the shelter.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the unrecognised republic of Transnistria in Moldova, has announced that Russia would supply gas to the region as humanitarian aid. Source: European Pravda, citing Russian state news agency TASS Details: Krasnoselsky stressed that "Russian gas will only be supplied to consumers in Transnistria,