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”.
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.
The original article contains 321 words, the summary contains 139 words. Saved 57%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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.
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
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 encicle Kiev, will definitely risk more border incidents. This is without even considering Moldova’s EU candidate status, and Moldovas ambiguous relationship with that " breakaway " region.
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.
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.
Also, for completeness, Modova does apparently have one small port that ships can sail to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Giurgiulești
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:
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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.
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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:
I am pretty confident that Ukraine is not going to be onboard with Russia moving military forces through Odesa to Transnistria.
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I imagine it’s a pretense to start attacking Odessa after they get the dombass…
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 thisList of battles involving the Russian Federation
Russia is a bit busy right now.
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.
Turning an area into a war zone has always improved “ghetto” conditions, every time.
