This separatist sliver of Moldova will run out of energy in three weeks, the head of its Russia-backed government has said. Once proud, go-it-alone and richer than their neighbors in Moldova ...

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.

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.

The leader of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria has travelled to Moscow for talks to resolve an energy crisis following the suspension of Russian gas deliveries, Transdniestria's news agency reported on Tuesday.

Russia plans to resume natural gas flows to Moldova’s pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria amid an energy crisis, according to Vadim Krasnoselsky, leader of the self-proclaimed republic.

"Russian propaganda tries to create a story in which Moldova becomes a ‘problematic actor,’ although the government has proposed clear solutions to avoid the crisis," Moldovan government spokesperson Daniel Voda said on Jan.

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. Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the separatist enclave,

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

Russia has long used its plentiful energy resources as a tool to exert control over the region, where independence from Russian energy is tied to political sovereignty.

Moldova's pro-European central government renewed its criticism of Russia, saying it caused the energy crisis and now wants to portray itself as the power that was coming to the separatist region's rescue.

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