Protests erupted across Transnistria on Friday, with residents of the Moscow-backed separatist region demanding Moldovan authorities provide gas supplies amid an ongoing energy crisis. Russia’s Gazprom halted gas supplies to Transnistria on Jan.

The separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria has agreed to purchase natural gas from Moldovagaz to address its ongoing energy crisis, the region’s Moscow-backed leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said Monday.

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

The Russian authorities and the leadership of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria are reportedly exploring a plan to supply gas to the region through purchases on the European spot market, facilitated by an intermediary company,