Russian strikes on Ukraine spotlight Moldova’s energy woes

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Massive blackouts that temporarily hit more than a half-dozen cities across Moldova this week highlighted the impact Russia's war in Ukraine is having on Europe's poorest country.

The power outages happened Tuesday as the Russian military pounded infrastructure targets across Ukraine, which borders Moldova. Less than a week earlier, the European Union pledged 250 million euros (nearly $260 million) to help the former Soviet republic tackle a severe energy crisis after Russia halved its natural gas supply.

Moldova became a candidate for EU membership in June, on the same day neighboring Ukraine did.

“Every deadly bomb dropped on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure has direct consequences for the people of our country,” Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said after Russia's latest missile strikes caused the electricity to go out across the border.

Moldova’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, said Moscow’s decision to cut her country's gas supplies amounted to “political blackmail” and was an attempt to “cynically exploit people’s hardships" and to turn the country away from its path toward joining the EU.

The energy crisis was compounded when Transnistria — a Moscow-backed separatist region of Moldova with a key power plant and where Russia bases around 1,500 troops, nominally as “peacekeepers” — also cut electricity to other parts of the country.

In response, Moldovan authorities turned to another neighbor, Romania, which now supplies about 90% of the smaller nation's electricity, according to Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. But Moldova’s Soviet-era energy systems remain interconnected with Ukraine, which is why the Russian missile barrage triggered the automatic shutdown of a supply line and caused the lights to go out...