The severing of one of Russia's last gas export routes to Europe is being felt most painfully in a small, mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Moldova that has for decades looked to Moscow for protection.

Russia maintains about 1,500 troops there and long provided free gas. That ended on New Year’s Day when Ukraine, nearly three years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion, refused to extend a transit deal letting Russia pump gas across its territory to central and eastern Europe.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the east European country.