Transnistria is fighting for survival. The lack of Russian gas has put the region on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. The electricity goes out several times a day, people are freezing in their homes. It is said that there are also human casualties.
After the Russian gas supplies to Moldova were stopped at the beginning of 2025, Transnistria was left without heating and hot water. The electricity shortage has also led to power outages in homes for eight hours a day. Industrial enterprises have stopped, the food industry is forced to work at night, and educational institutions have extended their winter vacation until January 20, as there is not enough electricity for distance learning.
However, this pro-Russian separatist region has not yet accepted the aid offered by Chisinau, after Gazprom stopped gas supplies to Moldova on January 1. The concern cited as the official reason the Moldovan side's refusal to settle its obligations for previous supplies, although in reality the fuel supply was stopped by Ukraine due to the expiration of the Russian gas transit agreement on December 31, 2024.
The city of Bendery freezes
In the city of Bendery, which is 15 km from Tiraspol, the power went out twice for four hours a day. The lights go out at 8 p.m. and by midnight, the houses are getting so cold that people have to sleep with hats on. “While you are near the electric radiator, it is more or less warm, but as soon as you move away, it becomes cold“, a resident of Bendery tells DW.
Locals say that many people are sick because the heating has been turned off, and the authorities are hiding information about numerous deaths in the last week. “People with weak health cannot stand the cold, and some suffocated from the carbon dioxide from the stoves“, says another Bendery resident, who asked not to be named.
The phrase that can most often be heard from Transnistrians is: “We are people on whom nothing depends“. At the same time, however, they realize that until recently they have been paying non-market prices for energy. And if gas supplies are now resumed, for example from Europe, some people are ready to pay higher bills.
The industrial zone of Ribnitsa is closing
In Ribnitsa, in the northern part of Transnistria, on January 6, the Moldovan Metallurgical Plant (MMZ), which employed over 2,000 people, stopped working. Its blast furnace consumed 95 megawatts of energy per hour. After the shutdown of the Moldovan State Power Plant, which operates on Russian gas, it became clear that the work of the metallurgists could not continue as before. In order to retain staff, it is now planned that workers will be paid two-thirds of their salaries - until the available funds are exhausted.
Meanwhile, the cement plant with over 800 workers has also stopped working in the industrial zone. At one time, Ribnitsa was called the “northern capital” of Transnistria and the largest factories in all of Moldova were located there, Gennady Chorba, the former minister of communications of the unrecognized republic, told DW. He explains that after the collapse of the USSR, the population of Ribnitsa decreased from 64,000 to 25,000 people and the city became a “sad place“.
Now the people of the city are busy with their physical survival, Chorba emphasizes. Those who had money bought electricity generators and radiators, but there are others who are literally freezing in their homes. Some pensioners have even moved into farm buildings with wood-burning stoves. Anger reigns, which is directed equally at Moscow, Tiraspol and Chisinau. “Nobody cares who is to blame when it comes to its very existence“, says Chorba.
Transnistria lives only with information from Russia
On the other hand, he continues, the sentiment is such that whoever solves the problem of electricity and heating in homes will become a hero for Transnistrians. It is not yet clear who that will be. The unrecognized republic of Transnistria lives under the influence of Russian media. Both on air and on cable, there are Russian television channels, plus two local ones, which spread their propaganda narratives. There is not a single Moldovan television channel, and this is puzzling, Chorba points out - so far Chisinau has made no effort to publicize its position.
The head of the human rights organization "Assistance to Effective Justice" in Tiraspol, Stepan Popovski, calls the residents of Transnistria hostages of the existing regime there and partly blames Chisinau for this. The human rights activist admitted to the DW that he is the only member of his organization left - as a result of the adoption of the analogue of the Russian law on "foreign agents" seven years ago. Civil society in Transnistria has been destroyed, and freedom of speech, assembly and the right to a fair trial do not exist at all, Popovski added.
"There will be no protests in Tiraspol"
Moldova is a member of the Council of Europe, which is why the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognizes its jurisdiction over the territory of Transnistria. But, as the human rights activist notes, no one has ever appealed to a Moldovan court, since Moldova itself stated in the ECHR that it cannot ensure the implementation of laws in this region. Moldova does not accept claims against the authorities in Transnistria, since it does not consider them constitutional - and so the circle closes.
There is no one to appeal to, and the regime, which is not under anyone's control, takes advantage of this. Therefore, Stepan Popovski draws two conclusions: despite the humanitarian crisis, there will be no protests in Tiraspol. Any attempt at indignation will be sharply suppressed by the security services on which the regime relies. And secondly - Tiraspol will not, under any circumstances, begin to get closer to Chisinau. It is significant that the assistance offered by Moldova was called by the “Foreign Minister“ of Transnistria Vitaly Ignatiev “insulted“, and Moldova itself was called in his official letter “Bessarabian region“.