The historic first marks a milestone in Washington’s bid to replace Russia as Europe’s top source of natural gas.

Vladimir Putin might have lost a slice of revenue after Kyiv closed its gas pipeline to Russian supplies, but Moscow already has alternatives for shipping the fuel that stand to shield it from any serious economic hit.

Poland's Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, welcomed the end of Russian gas transit via Ukraine as another victory over Moscow. On the social media network X (formerly Twitter), the head of Polish diplomacy was quick to express his satisfaction,

More than 51,000 households were left without gas and 1,500 apartment buildings had no winter heat in Moldova's pro-Russian separatist enclave, authorities said on Monday, as Moldova and Russia traded blame for an escalating energy crisis.

A renegade part of Moldova once boasted it would become a Russian-speaking Switzerland. Now without gas, its leader assured residents, “We will not allow a societal collapse.”

The head of Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria has urged residents to burn firewood for heating and warned that blackouts cannot be avoided, after Moscow stopped supplying gas via Ukraine.