The end of Russian natural-gas transit across Ukraine is a blow to Moscow, but it could provide the Kremlin with sharpened tool for economic and political influence over a key target country: Moldova.

VIENNA - On a frosty morning in Slovakia's capital Bratislava, cameraman Peter Lahky expressed his concerns over a looming energy crisis after Ukraine on Wednesday halted Russian gas transit to Europe, fearing that higher energy prices would further add to his financial burden.

Authorities in Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region on Sunday cut off gas supplies to several state institutions as a deal allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine comes to an end at the close of the year.

Russian Gazprom's decision to halt gas supplies to Moldova resulted in a heating outage in the Russian-controlled region of Transnistria, prompting Chisinau to seek alternative sources of electricity.

Transnistria, a breakaway Moldovan region, has stopped supplying heating and hot water to households after gas supplies to Europe from Russia via Ukraine were cut off. Source: Reuters Details: The interruption of gas supplies had an immediate impact on the region's population of about 450,

Moscow breakaway region of Transnistria halted almost all industrial activity except for food production, following the end of Russian gas flows through Ukraine, Interfax reported.

Russian natural gas has stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine after a five-year transit contract expired.

Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed the U.S. for the decision, saying it will impact "the standard of living of European citizens."

A Russian guided bomb attack on Saturday wounded 10 people, including two children, in a village in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, near the Russian border, local authorities said.

Kyiv has finally turned off Russia’s gas supply to Europe, ending a source of income that helped pay for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The decades-old deal, which allowed the transit of natural gas produced by Russian energy giant Gazprom through Ukraine, ended at midnight on December 31, shutting down Russia’s last major gas corridor to Europe.

The blow to Transdniestria was immediate. Households' central heating and hot water were cut off, and nearly all industrial enterprise was shut down.