War in Ukraine, what happens in Transnistria and why it matters

Ever since Russia initiated the invasion of Ukraine, sparking a conflict that has been going on for more than a month, we are watching more and more carefully what is happening in Transnistria. It is a territory that is located between Ukraine and Moldova, it is officially part of the latter country but at the beginning of the nineties it proclaimed itself independent and then asked to be annexed to Russia

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In the last few hours we have returned to talk about this pro-Russian republic due to an indiscretion spread by the Ukrainian General Staff and reported by Ukrainska Pravda. According to Kiev, “work has been stepped up for mobilize units of Russian troops established in the territory of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova in order to conducting provocations and carrying out demonstration actions on the border with Ukraine ”

Transnistria, the no man’s land that could change the war in Ukraine

In the territory they are located at the moment approx 1,500 Russian soldiers and it is believed that these troop movements are aimed at “giving a demonstration of readiness for an offensive and possible hostility against Ukraine”. As remembers theAgithe republic is in fact west of Odessa and could be an alternative front to attack the port city, after the failure of repeated Russian attempts to circumvent Mykolaiv, to the east

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The news was commented by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda. “The responsible state institutions of Moldova are closely monitoring the security situation in the region. At the moment, there is no information confirming the mobilization of troops in Transnistria “, reads the note which also states that the authorities will continue to monitor and exchange information with partners to ensure the safety of citizens

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According to reports from the Financial Timesthe Transnistrian authorities also denied this scenario, defining the information disseminated by Kiev as “absolutely false” and declaring that “all military units present in the territory are in permanent deployment and carry out their activities in a standard operating mode“. According to their version, even those planned would have been “deliberately downplayed” for avoid increasing the tension

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On Friday 1 April, Urmas Paet, Vice-President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, spoke about the need to intensify cooperation between the EU and Moldova in the fight against Russian propaganda defined as “a worrying danger for countries so exposed to the crisis”

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Since the war in Ukraine began, Moldova has welcomed several refugees and asked to join the European Union. Also for this reason, Paet recalled, the European Parliament approved “a macro-financial support package” in favor of him. To reduce the impact of the war, the country has also decided to do not sanction Russia. “If we leave the country without fuel and destabilize the situation here, it will be of no use to anyone”, explained President Maia Sandu (pictured)

According to reports The postsome thousands of Ukrainians would also arrive in Transnistria because here the cost of living is lower than in Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) or because they already have a network of family and friends they can count on. The newspaper also recalls that the self-proclaimed president of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky (pictured) defined the situation as “unpleasant”, but struggled to take a stand, especially due to the economic ties with Moscow

The reportage of the Post from Transnistria

In fact, Moscow pays an additional pension to the elderly and provides, among other things, gas at controlled prices to heat houses. According to analyst Thomas de Waal, quoted by The post“If the Russians presented themselves to the Transnistrians saying that they owe them a favor, it would be difficult to say no”

In the meantime, even here there are those who fear that a war could break out. A lady who lives in the territory told a RSI that the population is used to living with Russian soldiers stationed and that so far there have been no problems, but now he feels in danger because Russia has made an unexpected choice and Moldova is a small country. “We hope that the war does not come here, but we cannot know it,” commented another interviewee