Most Moldovan power supplies restored after Russian strikes on Ukraine

CHISINAU (Reuters) -Power was restored to most parts of Moldova on Wednesday, hours after Russian missile strikes on neighbouring Ukraine caused blackouts across half of the small impoverished country, officials said.

Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu, who had earlier reported a “massive blackout”, said in a statement that all power had been restored to the north of Moldova. Premier Energy, a Moldovan company that serves the centre and the south, said 90% of the electricity supply was back on line.

Officials in the breakaway Russian-backed region of Transdniestria also said power was back up.

Moldova is one of Europe’s poorest countries and has the highest per-capita intake of Ukrainian refugees. It shares a border with Ukraine, a fellow ex-Soviet state, and is connected to its power grid.

Spinu said the situation was a repeat of Nov. 15, when Moldova also suffered blackouts after Russian missile strikes. Moldova’s pro-Western government has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Kevin Liffey, David Ljunggren and Sandra Maler)