A man looks on from inside a car at night on the street during a programmed power shortage in Varnita on January 17, 2025. The energy crisis spread in Moldova, which used to receive electricity fuelled by Russian gas. While the government in Chisinau managed to secure its electricity with imports from neighbour EU-member Romania, the electricity prices have nearly doubled. Since the beginning of the year, about a dozen villages in Transnistria under the control of the Chisianu government have faced gas or electricity problems, being directly connected to the networks from Transnistria. The government promised to connect these villages to the networks used by the rest of the country, but obstacles remain. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)