More than 51,000 households have been left without gas and 1,500 apartments have no heating in the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova, the Tiraspol regime announced on Monday, while Moldova and Russia accuse each other of escalating the energy crisis following the cessation of Russian gas transport through Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Transnistria had been receiving Russian gas via Ukraine for decades, using it to generate electricity, some of which was then sold to the rest of Moldova, which thus ensured 80% of its consumption.

But that gas was cut off on January 1, along with flows to Central and Eastern Europe, after Kiev refused to extend a transit agreement that had survived almost three years of war between Russia and Ukraine.

In a Telegram post, Tiraspol announced that 122 localities were without gas supplies on Monday morning and that only small quantities were being supplied to some apartments for cooking. Authorities ordered schools to remain closed after the end of the holidays, with at least 131 schools and 147 kindergartens left without heating.

“There is not a single person in Transnistria who is to blame for this situation – it is all an external factor,” Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselski said in a televised statement, according to Agerpres.

The Moldovan government summoned a diplomat from the Russian embassy on Monday and accused Moscow of falsely blaming Chisinau for the crisis in Transnistria.

In a press briefing, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that water supply disruptions in Transnistria began on Monday.

‘The goal of all this for Russia is to create instability in the region, but also, very importantly, to influence the results of the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova,’ Recean said.

Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said it was watching the deteriorating situation in Transnistria with concern, and accused Chisinau and the West of artificially creating the crisis and falsely blaming Moscow for it.