Putin Gets a Snub in the Vast Wine Cellars of a Former Soviet Republic
The Russian president celebrated his 50th birthday at a winery in Moldova. After the invasion of Ukraine, it moved the bottles he was given away from public view.
Short of Heat and Power, the Breakaway Region of Transnistria Struggles Without Russian Gas
An energy crisis in Transnistria, a pro-Russian territory between Moldova and Ukraine, erupted on Jan. 1 when Moscow stopped supplying natural gas through a pipeline running across Ukraine.
A Gas Cutoff Sends Shivers Through a Russian-Backed Breakaway Region
A renegade part of Moldova once boasted it would become a Russian-speaking Switzerland. Now without gas, its leader assured residents, “We will not allow a societal collapse.”