Russian gas shutdown forces closure of almost all industry in Transnistria

Pro-Russia Moldovan region suffers major hit after Ukraine ends transit agreement, with only food producers functioning

The shutdown of Russian gas supplies to Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region has forced the closure of all industrial companies except food producers.

The mainly Russian-speaking territory of about 450,000 people, which split from Moldova in the 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed, has suffered a painful and immediate hit from Wednesday's cut-off of Russian gas supplies to central and eastern Europe via Ukraine.