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.

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.

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.

Russia will resume gas supplies to Transnistria in the form of humanitarian aid, the head of the Moscow-controlled breakaway region said on Jan. 15, but those to the rest of Moldova will remain cut off.