Moldova: Breakaway Transnistria asks Russia for 'protection' ( www.dw.com )

Officials are set to ask Russia's Federation Council and the State Duma "to implement measures to protect Transnistria in the face of increased pressure from Moldova," local media reported the resolution as saying.

The cogress said the Moldovan government had unleashed "economic war" on the region, blocking crucial imports and seeking to turn it into a "ghetto".

bradorsomething ,

Turning an area into a war zone has always improved “ghetto” conditions, every time.

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

Looks like Russia has issued a statement:

https://lemmy.today/post/7222390

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would "consider with attention" the appeal of authorities from the Moscow-controlled Moldovan region of Transnistria for "protection," the Russian state-controlled media RBC wrote on Feb. 28.

CanadaPlus ,

Russia is a bit busy right now.

bouh ,

I imagine it's a pretense to start attacking Odessa after they get the dombass...

photoncollector ,
@photoncollector@mastodon.social avatar

@bouh @HowRu68
It's exactly the same op as they ran in Donbass and Luhsnsk

HowRu68 OP , (edited )

It's exactly the same op as they ran in Donbass and Luhsnsk

Yes, instigation & occupation comes right out of the Ruz Imperialisic playbook.
There are more examples, like Georgia, and some attempts in Lithuania as well.

added: found this List of battles involving the Russian Federation

tal , (edited )
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

I feel like this would work better if Russia had already conquered Ukraine up to and including Odesa.

Russia cannot move forces through Ukraine. That's a hot war, and Ukraine will shoot at them.

I don't think that Russia can fly through Romanian airspace, even with civilian flights, as the EU closed their airspace.

Maybe Russia could fly forces and military cargo into Transnistria in on another country's civilian aircraft. I don't know how much control Moldova has over Transnistria's airports.

EDIT: Apparently the transit issue already came up. Transnistria apparently has three airports:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Transnistria

All three are listed as inactive.

For Tiraspol Airport:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiraspol_Airport

Until 1989, it was used as a military airfield of the Soviet Air Forces. In 1991, work began on converting the airfield into a commercial airport, which would be the largest in Transnistria. These works were suspended due to the lack of funding and the political unsettledness of the status of Transnistria, which did not allow the customs and border services of the Republic of Moldova to be located at the airport and, consequently, to fly outside the country.

On May 10, 2016, Transnistrian President Shevchuk confirmed the intention to transform the Tiraspol airfield into a civilian airport, but indicated that "neither Moldova nor Ukraine are ready to give the appropriate permissions to transit through their territory or turn around through their territory."[10]

So, basically, it sounds like Ukraine or Moldova need to be onboard for civilian flights to be flying through. They already said no, and even if they did, Moldovan customs officers would get to be at the airport and control (which apparently Transnistria refused).

tal , (edited )
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

Also, for completeness, Moldova does apparently have one small port that ships can sail to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Giurgiule%C8%99ti

The Port of Giurgiulești (Romanian: Portul Giurgiulești), officially the Giurgiulești International Free Port (Romanian: Portul Internațional Liber Giurgiulești, PILG), is a port on the Danube River at its confluence with the Prut and the only port in Moldova.[1][2]

It is Moldova's only port accessible to seagoing vessels, situated at km 133 (nautical mile 72) of the River Danube in the south of Moldova.[3] It operates both a grain and an oil terminal as well as a passenger terminal.[4]

But that's got some issues that I think would prevent Russia from using it to put forces into Moldova:

  • It's on the other side of Moldova from Transnistria. The port is not in the Transnistrian portion of Moldova. I.e. Moldova can say no to ships and can presumably search cargo and control passengers at customs.

  • Reaching it requires sailing up the Danube. One bank is Romania, and the other bank is Ukraine. I don't think that there are any rights that ships have to sail there; it's not international waters. I don't believe that innocent passage applies to reaching ports on a river. And I'm pretty sure that Romania and Ukraine both have a healthy disinterest in Russia moving forces into Transnistria.

Based on this (Table 1, Page 8), goods going to Moldova via sea apparently normally go through Odesa in Ukraine:

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/766431468139805224/pdf/347710PAPER0Tr101OFFICIAL0USE0ONLY1.pdf

I am pretty confident that Ukraine is not going to be onboard with Russia moving military forces through Odesa to Transnistria.

gravitas_deficiency ,

Oh shit, is it going down? Is Russia going to try to invade the rest of Moldova, and simultaneously try to open a southern front in Ukraine? Because that would be an excellent way to get a bunch of NATO countries to stop fucking around and actually directly intervene both there and in Ukraine.

Hasuris ,

Without looking at a map my memory is kinda fuzzy but I believe Russian troops would have trouble getting there. I hope they try the Black Sea route

HowRu68 OP , (edited )

Because that would be an excellent way to get a bunch of NATO countries to stop fucking around and actually directly intervene both there and in Ukraine.

As I see it, using Transnistria as a western "front" by the Z army to encircle Kiev, will definitely risk more border incidents.
This is without even considering Moldova's EU candidate status, and Moldova's ambiguous relationship with that " breakaway " region.

NOT_RICK ,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

I doubt it. The Russian navy can barely leave port without sinking (shit, sometimes they get wrecked even in port) and airlifting enough material and personnel to stage a new invasion front would be costly and runs the risk of Ukrainian air defense shredding them.

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Pro-Russian officials in the Transnistria region of Moldova on Thursday called for help from Moscow "in the face of increased pressure."

Officials are set to ask Russia's Federation Council and the State Duma "to implement measures to protect Transnistria in the face of increased pressure from Moldova," local media reported the resolution as saying.

The cogress said the Moldovan government had unleashed "economic war" on th region, blocking crucial imports and seeking to turn it into a "ghetto".

That congress saw deputies announce a referendum on integrating with Russia, a vote that resulted in an overwhelming majority in favor.

"The decisions of the current congress cannot be ignored by the international community," the "foreign policy chief" of the self-styled republic, Vitaly Ignatiev, told the meeting.

Moscow is accused of seeking to destabilize Moldova, which gained official candidate status for European Union membership in June 2022.

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