Ukraine war: Moldovans suffer winter without water and heating

DW (English)

The population of Transnistria suffers power cuts and lacks heating after supplies of gas to the eastern pro-Russian province of Moldova have stopped. Moldova's PM claims Russia is now trying to swoop in as the savior.

Transcript

00:00It's the middle of winter, and these radiators are ice-cold.

00:06So is the home of former teacher Vasili Donichi in Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist

00:12region of eastern Moldova.

00:20We were kind of expecting these shortages, because the Moldova radio announced that we

00:24were supposed to save electricity, and also because it's more expensive at rush hour.

00:28So I was kind of prepared for this.

00:31I think everybody works their heads around what to do in order not to freeze in the winter.

00:35The streetlights are off, there's no light during the night, also in the city down there.

00:46Vasili lives in an internationally recognized part of Moldova that declared independence

00:51after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

00:54It now finds itself without the fuel, leaving residents without power and in the cold, after

00:59Russia halted gas supplies to the region earlier this year, claiming it was owed more

01:04than 700 million euros from the Moldovan government for past supplies, despite providing it to

01:10the region for free.

01:13Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Rechian offered another explanation, that Russia is using

01:20the gas as leverage to boost its influence in the pro-Moscow region.

01:27It's a trap.

01:28So this time, when Moldova decided to have its pro-European path in the constitution,

01:40this time that we open negotiations, they just want to create a security crisis in the

01:47region and ultimately stop Moldova from advancing in the process of integration in the European

01:56Union.

01:57At the World Economic Forum, Rechian tried to drum up support for Moldova's application

02:03into the EU, and EU leaders made strong pleas for better protection against Russian encroachment.

02:08It's clear that in the geopolitical situation which we are facing, with Russia's aggression

02:14against Ukraine, and with Russia openly talking also about invading other countries, Europe

02:20will need to strengthen our defence capabilities and defence industry, and that will require

02:27also strong cooperation in a framework of NATO.

02:31We have to change the trajectory of the war which is ongoing, and so far as we know the

02:37front line is moving in the wrong direction.

02:40A moving front line, increasingly a fear for Moldova as it awaits EU membership.

02:46For residents of Transnistria, having enough fuel to make it through winter is the biggest

02:50fear and the biggest priority for now.

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