The prime minister of Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region said on Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports.

The head of Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria has urged residents to burn firewood for heating and warned that blackouts cannot be avoided, after Moscow stopped supplying gas via Ukraine.

Moldova's Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniestria extended its state of emergency on Friday for another month as it grapples with an energy crisis after losing access to Russian gas supplies that had propped up its economy for decades.

The buzzing sound of chainsaws and generators is now common in Varnița, a village of 5,000 that borders Moldova's Russian-controlled region of Transnistria. Located next to the Russian-controlled city of Bender (Tighina),