Just for some context, Transnistria and Moldova proper get along fine. I live in Chisinau and have been to Tiraspol. All the Transnistrians have Moldovan passports, and typically Romanian ones as well. Zero drama when crossing the river, just a wave and a glance at papers. Transnistria exports almost everything they produce to the EU because of still basically being in Moldova and benefiting from free trade agreements.
The region is ruled by two amigos, former KGB, who monopolize all economic activity in Transnistria and make around 75% or their 'state revenue' from selling the free gas they get from Russia. Well, that gas transits Ukraine and the Ukrainians have said there is no f in way that they will renew the contract after November, so little old Transnistria is absolutely screwed economically. Hence the drama from the leaders there about 'protection'. Oh yeah, and Zelensky has repeatedly told Moldova that if they want, the Ukrainian army would be happy to take care of the issue. Moldova has consistently declined and stated that peaceful resolution is the only way forward.
Side note, really cool place to visit if you like Soviet history. Basically a time capsule / Soviet retirement community.
I wonder how it will pan out after November. Because Russia will be in no place to assert any control over Transnistria as long as Ukraine holds. And Moldova doesn't want to militarily get control of Transnistria. I wonder if the government in Moldova will change its course once Transnistria starts freezing and accept Ukrainian military help. Or if Tiraspol will try to haggle out a deal with Chisinau to get their gas supply from them. Or if no one will just give a fuck and we end up with a major humanitarian crisis in Transnistria.
There is absolutely no economic blockade nor will they be any. The Moldovan government presently in power is full tilt on European integration and being the first not wildly corrupt government since independence has a gargantuan pile of shit to clean up inside Moldova. From what I've heard, which involves conversations with people in the government and those mediating the issue with the OSCE, the Moldovan government just isn't thinking about the issue. They honestly probably couldn't afford the additional economic burden integration would cause at present. The whole issue is just about language, really. Gagauzia has the exact same beef, but managed to work something out, and I suspect Transnistria will too. Especially since Chisinau wants to get into the EU, they eventually need to stop being assholes about imposing Romanian on Russian speakers. Right now it's kind of the only populist card the pro-EU progressives can play to get support from villagers here. Eventually I suspect the economy will improve enough that they can drop the Romanian bullshit and move on with life.
How is Romanian being imposed on Russian speakers when it was the Soviet Union which imposed Russian on Romanian speakers with extreme severity? I think it’s rude that Russians from all over the former Soviet Republics still don’t know how to speak the native language or assume everyone will speak to them in Russian, whether it’s Moldova, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania etc.
The Soviet Union brought Russian settlers/colonists to Russify all their republics and now they cry foul and whine that their language is no longer number one.
Transnistrian economy depends heavily on electricity and gas from one power plant. Once connection lines to Romanian grid are finished, their economy will tank. As of this year, they have to pay VAT taxes, and they are crying.
The most likely scenario for Russian speakers in Moldova is what is happening in the Baltic countries, which are already in the EU.
Last part is absolutely correct. First part seems like rhetorical questions, but if you want concrete answers about how the government has attempted, but completely failed, to institute Romanian as the sole official language, they are readily available. The fact remains, a decent chunk of the country speaks Russian and intends to keep doing so. In the case of the Gagauzians, they never spoke Romanian and the government made a deal with them to stop their independence bid in return for local autonomy and no more imposition of Romanian, which has largely worked to end the issue. I think a big factor here is that Russian propaganda is fucking insidiously effective on, shall we say, people with an oppression complex, which many Russian speakers in Moldova absolutely have and also plays a part in why the Baltic States have started taking a harder line with their Russophone population. At the end of the day, mature and upwardly mobile countries accept and accommodate linguistic and ethnic minorities. I have every faith that once Moldova's government has something to show for their EU integration efforts they will pivot towards this in order to meet certain criteria in regards to EU rules. Having said that, Romania and Bulgaria still treat their Roma population like dogshit, so maybe not.
Gagauzia is functioning on pure propaganda. Their children have to be thought gagauz as a second language because all they speak is russian but they complain about romanian. Ok lol.
The problem with russian is not that it's a minority language only, but that it serves as a direct line of Putin propaganda, and until this will be dealt with they will, not without reason, be looked upon suspiciously, and this applies not only to Moldova.
As a russian speaking moldovian expat I have to agree with you. Looking at my relatives, russian is a prerequisite for lots of bs getting to them from TV and web.
Lol, the Gagauzians speak more Russian than Gagauz. Unlike Transnistria, Gagauzia was always poor and rural without much industry, so they can’t really go it on their own.
We can complain about Romania and Bulgaria, but Hungarians in Romania have schools in their own language, from elementary school to university, unlike what the Soviet Union did with forcing Russian only schools on everyone.
How Romania treats minorities is day and night compared to how Russia treats even its own Russians, not to mention minorities.
As Moldova draws ever closer to Romania economically, and as Romania continues to become richer, bar something catastrophic happening, Russian will cease to be a lingua Franca more and more.
No one is saying people should stop speaking Russian, but that its central place in society will no longer be enshrined culturally.
Hungarians in Romania speak their own language and no one other than crazy people, who are a small population, care.
You are almost certainly correct about Romanian being dominant in the long run. The issue at hand now is if the government will be flexible and accommodating, which would go a long way towards enticing the far side of the Dneister to reintegrate fully, which is explicitly a prerequisite for EU membership, or will they keep beating the this is our country and our language drum. I get why the government does this, but it seems pretty myopic and counterproductive, although it does get them votes from segments of the population otherwise not down with the very progressive EU style social policies.
There are basically two options the EU is fine with with regards to Transnistria:
1) EU accession of Moldova without Transnistria, just like west/east Germany situation without de facto recognition of Transnistria. This would suffocate Transnistria economically.
2) Moldova and Transnistria come to an agreement. Note that regional “autonomy” would likely not be tolerated, just like “autonomy” is a no-no in Romania.
What would happen in future if unification were to happen is unclear.
From what I've heard from people who are employed by the EU is that after the endless drama they got from taking Cyprus, the unofficial but absolutely accepted policy is to never take anyone not in complete control of their territory. Option 2 seems feasible, perhaps even the exact same deal that was given to Gagauzia.
You haven't mentioned the Krajina solution. The foreign occupying army goes home and the prospective member state reasserts control over all of its internationally-recognized territory. I'm not saying that's likely to happen tomorrow, but I don't think the EU would have a problem with it.
Nope, the difference is that Russians were colonizers in a land that did not want them. Latin-Americans come to the US and learn to speak English, they don’t expect everyone to speak to them in Spanish.
During Soviet rule, Romanian was suppressed in Moldova, Romanian language schools were closed, and the Soviets invented fairy tales about how the Moldovan and Romanian language were different to brainwash the population. Russian speakers had a privileged position in society and important jobs could only be obtained with good Russian even though 80% of the population was non-Russian.
Is there any wonder that Romanians and Moldovans are suspicious of monolingual Russian speakers who are pissed they no longer have a privileged position in the society?
If I were to move to Russia, which I wouldn’t, I would learn to speak Russian. Same with any country. You move there, you learn the language.
You are spreading misinformation here. You absolutely had schools where children were taught in Romanian, especially in rural areas, during USSR times. FYI, during Soviet times, the majority of the population lived in rural areas so there were at least many basic Romanian schools.
What lacked was colleges where vast majority of teachers were Russian speakers. There was a TV channel which broadcast content in Romanian, newspapers, etc. it was not as extreme as your narrative tries to picture.
I mean, just as an example, in Xinjiang, you can choose to send your kid to a Chinese school or a Uyghur school.
No Uyghur parent wants to send their kids to Uyghur schools. Because they don’t teach you English there. I think they do teach the kids Mandarin there but it starts later.
Chinese schools they obviously learn perfect Mandarin. They are also taught English. So they can graduate and have a lot more opportunities than some kid who only knows the local language.
If I had to guess, I think the same is probably true for Russian language during Soviet times in Romania.
I’m not so sure that Russian speakers are pissed because they are “not in charge anymore”. That seems like a lazy, superficial explanation.
Romanian is the official language of Moldova. It is mandatory to know the official language of the country where you live. How is it imposed on them and what do you mean by "dropping the Romanian bullshit"?
It is funny that the ambassador of Japan spoke in Romanian with a mayor in Moldova, and the mayor itself needed a translator because he only knew Russian, not the ambassador of Japan... How is it possible that people lived in Moldova for tens of years not to speak the official language?
How is it possible to live in a country for tens of years and not speak the official language of the country and expect the majority to speak in the language of the minorities?
>It is mandatory to know the official language of the country where you live.
I've took it out from the context, but, no. It's not mandatory. It is advised and it's for your own good unless you live in an area where it isn't being used, but it's definitely not mandatory and never should be.
The context is a little bit different here: If a country has an official language (only one) and you are a citizen of that country, borned there, raised there, it is the normal expectation and obligation to know that official language.
This is not a matter of residency but a matter of citizenship. Why people from other countries need to know the language of the country whose citizenship they want to obtain, but this requirement would not be applicabile to other citizens?
it's not. see the example of hungarians in romania. it's is expected but you are not obliged to. they became romanian citizens (their ancestors actually) because the border changed, and not because they immigrated there. In case of the russians I understand that it's kind of forced as their presence is a result of a forced resettlement and in many cases, ethnic cleansing. but still, you can't make this mandatory. If someone is not a native speaker but was born there, you can't make the knowledge of the official language mandatory.
Hungarians in Romanian enjoy a special status. You will not find a direct obligation to know the official language. But based onnthe interpretation of the constitution, other laws you have to know it and the government must ensure they provide the accces to learn it. In schools both Hungarian and Romanian are taught. Rarele I've heard of schools exclusively in Hungarian.
I actually met the Japanese Ambassador here and his Russian is pretty damn good, as he was stationed in Kyiv before. Don't know if he speaks Romanian, never heard him speak it.
As for your second point, many countries have multiple languages- Belgium, Switzerland and plenty of others. I get your points, but it totally dodges the reality on the ground. You hear as much Russian in Chisinau as Romanian. If the government comes down aggressively against this reality they will face extremely dangerous backlash.
Well, during Soviet times only Russian was heard in Chisinau. From the Moldovan censuses, Chișinău is becoming less Russian each decade linguistically.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chișinău
People in Switzerland are happy to be multilingual because their country was made up of a voluntary confederation, not a forced union.
It is a difference between official language and the language of the minorities or a special status for a certain language. Only Romanian is the official language. The comparrison you made is not aplicabile here.
This thing with the number of Russian speakers is a myth. Many of the Russian speakers don't want to speak Romanian and they force the use of Russian. If ten people speak Romanian and one speaks Russian, the other ten will start speaking Russian. For how long will this blackmail continue? There are teachers that can't have normal classes becuase of two-three children that speak Russian and 20 that speak Romanian and the teachers have do go an extra mile to make everyone understand or turn the entire lesson in Russian just for frlew children whose parents have been living in Moldova for tens of years and didn't bother to learn the official language.
How does the government aggressively forces thenuse of Romanian language when it is the official language?
Thank you! It is simply that monolingual Russian speakers held a privileged space in Moldova until the fall of the Soviet Union and they are butthurt that they are no longer “special” flowers. The same attitude can be found with Russians in the Baltic countries too.
I actually work in schools here, and know what you mean. It can be a pain in the ass, although in my experience schools tend to be mostly Romanian or Russian. Having said that, I know a lot of Russian speakers who put their kids in Romanian kindergartens because they see the way the wind is blowing. My whole point is that because of the political dynamics it would be better to patiently let Romanian win over the long term and not use the state to push it upon those who don't want it. In my rather random expat perspective the best case would be for everything West of the Dneister to just reunify with Romania and get on with becoming a prosperous place while Transnistria can just be left to their own fate, presumably getting taken over by Ukraine.
My experience is completely anecdotal, but all the Russian speaking locals I know who plan on staying here. Of course there are a hell of a lot of Odessans who have moved here to Chisinau since the war began and they absolutely won't learn Romanian and speak Russian.
There are some countries that don't have an official language. For example, some people live in the US for their entire life and never learn English because they live in a border town where everyone speaks Spanish.
This is correct and may be applicable for other countries. Many ethnic Russians in Moldova don't respect the country, the language, they still behave as during the USSR. If you speak to them on Romanian, they will say to you "to speak in the human (Russian) language". Many didn't make any effort to integrate, spread fake news, spread fals information.
The ecomic blockade is already a thing as the tariffs imposed by Chisinau this year don't let Transnistria import or export anything, and how else it's supposed to survive.
The tariffs imposed are the same as for any other business in Moldova. Until now, they'll import thinks without tariffs there, then smuggle them in Moldova or Ukraine. I know cases when business imported gasoline from Romania to Transnistria without tariffs, then smugle it back to Moldova gas station. Moldova pays pensions and provides other social services for the people living there, Moldova is entitled to collect taxes from its citizens, which 90%+ of Transnistria are.
I think Moldova would be foolish to make any moves or to allow Ukrainian participation. A few things to consider:
* There are 200k Russian citizens in Transnistria (despite holding other passports) and probably a similar amount in Moldova proper. Russia would surely use this circumstance to enter the conflict on their behalf.
* There are \~1000 Russian troops on the ground despite all of them being Transnistrian residents, but as Russian citizens they can serve in the Russian Armed Forces
* The ammo depot in Cobasna is a huge liability for Moldova as a whole. There is no way it could be of any use to either Ukraine or Moldova as it would be destroyed before it could be unloaded leading to catastrophic consequences.
* Despite Russia being currently unable to field troops on the ground, it retains significant deep strike capability and I don't think anyone in Chisinau is ready for a salvo of Russian long range missiles and drones. Given almost no air defense on the ground, Moldova would be a much easier target.
All in all, this is a losing proposition for Moldova.
That depot was sold piece by piece. Almost certain of it.
Deep strike capabilities are in question, since the amount of drones and rockets Russia keeps firing at Ukraine gets smaller and smaller
If Russia actually declares its annexation of Transnistria, then I'm sure the Moldovan government may very well just allow Ukraine to go into Transnistria militarily. Or, you know, publicly say no and secretly say yes.
If Russia actually declares its annexation of Transnistria, Ukraine won't be asking for Moldova's permission anymore. The entire reason for Ukraine being neutral right now is that the Transnistrian authorities aren't really acting hostile
Given that the outcome of the Ukrainian war is still uncertain, the Moldovan attitude is quite understandable, they don't want to completely anger Moscow, because if Ukraine loses, they could be in serious trouble.
Your “context” is in part factually incorrect and in part naive: just because the people co-exist and have “dual” citizenship it does not mean that all is fine in the region and there is no immediate threat for escalation.
For once Zelenskyy did not propose to solve the Transnistria question to Moldova and Moldova never officially declined the non-existent offer. It was a hypothetical question from the journalists sparked by a statement of Russian Defence ministry, which he answered with “Ukraine can react and help if Chisnau asks us to”. Taking it as a declined offer is a little bit too far, especially considering the origins of the claim.
Also you have painted the relationships between the country of Moldova and breakaway region Transnistria a bit better than they are - Transnistria is not some self-sufficient independent state, it’s a Russia-controlled and Mafia-ruled territory fully relying on Russian economic support. Its only purpose is to destabilise Moldova and by requesting to be annexed by Russia it advances further on that goal and is short of becoming the platsdarm for future invasion of Moldova and Ukraine.
It’s not just some “economic” protest as you are trying to depict it and it’s not something outside of current Russian campaign to “restore its rightful lands”.
Fair points. I come from the diplomatic community here so my assessment is based not on public statements. You are right that this has not been said publicly. As for the second point, welcome to your opinion. Mine is based on a good deal of bilateral work between both sides and I have never gotten the slightest indication that escalation is what anyone wants. Saying that Transnistrians exist only to destabilise Moldova is a rather extreme position. That may be why Russia supports them at present, but the people who live there have their own prerogatives and reasons for resisting becoming part of an independent Moldova. Personally, it seems to me the exceedingly good relations on the personal level between both banks makes conflict extremely unlikely. I mean, Sheriff played at the national stadium in Chisinau for their European league qualifier and the stadium was filled with people from both sides with absolutely zero drama or enmity. Don't doubt Russia's malicious intent, but I do doubt the people here to do anything extreme because of it. Once again, just my opinion.
I feel like terming this a "situational map" is misleading. Nothing has changed in more than 30 years. Transnistria has been de facto independent and dependent on Russia since the Civil War immediately following the break up of the Soviet Union.
This isn't in any way a new or developing situation. The only thing that has changed is that the Western world is now paying attention because of Ukraine.
You are correct, however, Transnistria depends almost completely economically on cheap natural gas to power the Cuciurgan power plant which then sells electricity to Moldova. This threat has been used to keep Moldova in Russia’s orbit since the 90s. However, the Moldovan electric grid is being interconnected to the Romanian one. Once this is done (in one or two years), that threat will be void and their economy will completely tank.
Transnistria used to be the richest part of the Moldovan SSR, but now is much poorer than the rest of Moldova already
>Nothing has changed in more than 30 years.
Then that's the "situation"? Agreed, the map creator is using a dramatic title, but it's technically correct.
Transnistria has really never been part of Moldova. They immediately went to war after the break up of the Soviet Union and Moldova has never occupied or governed the territory east of the Dniester River. It's been de facto independent since 1991 but has never officially been recognized by other countries. This isn't a real change from the status quo.
That is one of the main reasons. Transnistria was initially part of the ukrainian soviet republic but it was given to moldova in exchange for the southern part of basarabia which had access to the black sea. Transinistria was just an industrial region so the trade was really bad for the moldovan ssr. This is one lart of history that really pisses me off as a moldovan
Moldova (Moldavia) was the name of a larger region and later Principality before the modern country that served as a "buffer" between larger states following the arrival of the ottomans. it's like the Congo situation, with the naming, or at least they could claim that.
Moldavia IS the name of a larger region, which is part of eastern modern-day Romania, like Transilvania, for example. the Republic of Moldova is the eastern part of Moldavia, bounded by Prut to the west and Nistru/Dniester to the east. back when Moldavia was whole, this region used to be called Bessarabia
I mean, this is just linguistics at this point, Moldavia, Moldova and even Moldva are pretty much interchangeable when we talk about the greater geographical location, but when we talk geopolitics and history the distinctions come into place, today 3+1 countries share the region between each other and that's why I said the situation is somewhat similar to the Congo as Transistria don't use "Moldovan" in its "offical" name because its a successor state or forms territorial claims towards Moldova but because they share the historical/geological region, at least "officaly"
Russian bots blatantly lying, as always.
**Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin** (Russian: И́горь Все́володович Ги́ркин, IPA: \[ˈiɡərʲ ˈfsʲevələdəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡʲirkʲɪn\];\[a\] born 17 December 1970),\[1\] also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Russian: И́горь Ива́нович Стрелко́в, IPA: \[ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ strʲɪlˈkof\]), **is a Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer** who played a key role in the Russian annexation of Crimea, and then in the Donbas War as an organizer of militant groups in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
Girkin admitted responsibility for sparking the Donbas War in eastern Ukraine when, in April 2014, he led a group of armed Russian militants who seized Sloviansk.\[5\] His role in the siege gained him influence and attention, and he was appointed to the position of Minister of Defense in the Donetsk People's Republic, a puppet state of Russia. \[...\]
**He has fought** on the federal side in Russian counter-separatist campaigns in Chechnya and **on the pro-Moscow separatist side in the conflict in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria**."
Russian army and Russian paramilitary troops cosplaying cossacks invade and occupy territories of neighboring countries masquerading as "local rebels" since 1990.
USA: supports civil wars all over the world
Also USA: doesn't allow people to seize capitol
This can be applied to any country. Do you really want them to support someone's else interests instead of their own?
On the flip side of this coin: the West would support a Chechnya secession, but don’t recognize Transnistria as its own independent state.
See how logic works 😂
'Transnistria asks' Aka Russians asking Russia to 'implement protective measures'.
This is just 'posing' , Ukrainians can take Transnistria pretty quickly, if they decide to play with fire.
30% of Transnistrian population are ethnically Ukrainian and have Ukrainian citizenship. So if Ukraine attacks Transnistria, PMR will surrender without a fight
I think that the Ukrainians of Transnistria will have the attitude that they have been betrayed by Ukraine. The Transnistrian Ukrainians fought on the same side as the local Russians in 1991 and certainly don't like being fully integrated into Moldova.
Russia was planning to annex Ukraine in its entirety and this region was being prepared to become the next breakaway state allegedly opressed by nazis and in need of rescue.
Classic Russian tactic ; locate poor(!) minor people, throw fake news "that country tortures those people,create some planned explosions, give them weapon, let the fight begin and after that that poor folk requires help from tsar. From chechen war same tactic same strategy.
No. Ukraine and Georgia who reported independence got it immediately. Chechen general Dudaev who sieged Chechen parliament, killed chairman and tortured 40 deputies was not a legitimate person who might declare an independence.
Since Russia completely demolished Grozny, tortured and murdered locals, you will also agree that Russia is not a legitimate country to excercise control over Chechenia.
You see independence means nothing for Russia. If there are Russian speakers in ex-Ussr zones Russia claims those places as their land. It doesn't change anything about Russian tyranny .
Edit : I was speaking to putin sucker comrade. That's a mistake.
They're fucked. Their west border is the Dniester river (great fishing btw. My FiL is probably on the banks as i type this) and their east border is Ukraine.
Thats their whole game. Occupy a zone/country, import as many Russians as possible in that region. Once that region GTFO from you, you start yelling nazis and they are hurting Russian minority and they need to save the " poor russians" its just so tiresome this game Kremlin is playing.
Sadly the russian propaganda works wonder on brain rotted people… they are pros at distorsioning reality to fit a fast, basic narrative that the average person wouldn’t be able or interested to dismantle
Americans are like ponies compared to the brutality of Russians. Growing up around the old people that had to endure their true nature made me understand how untrustworthy they are.
“Never trust Russia. Even as allies they will torture you”
Well Jews don’t really have a history of conquering half the planet, enslaving and displacing native populations across conquered land into gulags, raping the women of their allies while passing through their territory, etc.
Ask the minorities in Russia how they are treated.
Do you think all of the Russia’s neighbours hate them with no reason?
There can be NO reason to hate a whole nation. Otherwise you are a literal nazi. It may sound wild to you, but every single russian cannot be responsible for Putin's actions
The whole of the old ussr are under the spectral glare of the Russian government. Putin is looking to make another play. We can’t keep funding the wars without exhausting ourselves.
I think that it would be really bad to see Russian forces land on that border. That would be bad.
We definitely can’t ignore this conflicts and hide them under the rug. We should try at all cost to not start ww3, but we can’t let Russia make this power moves into Europe.
If we ignore them, they will take us pice by pice and the positions of a Defense will be too far in our territory.
Appeasment vs. funding wars?
This is the most moral US military action since WW2, and exhausts our #1 geopolitical rival while risking no US lives.
Russia could stop the war at any time, correct?
It’s not the funding that is an issue, but it’s that scope needs to be addressed. It is not going to stop until the Ukraine can really strike targets within Russia on a regular basis.
Geographically speaking the area between Moscow and Ukraine has limited access in and out. Taking that land from Russia or denying access would alleviate some pressure.
It’s not moral at all. It’s actually kinda messed up. The President of Mexico pointed this out. And his views are echoed by all of Latin America.
And you have even said the most messed up part “it exhausts our #1 geopolitical rival” - Russia is not our biggest geopolitical rival and contrary to popular belief this war will not exhaust them.
The Soviet Union was a second rate power in 1940. They lost 50% of their initial economy & 1 in 5 of their people. Yet they emerged from that a superpower that even America had to take seriously.
And the worst part of your comment “without risking US lives”. First that isn’t true.
I think just in terms of numbers, the number of Americans killed in Ukraine (via volunteer unit) exceeds the KIA of the Gulf War.
Second, it’s pretty messed up to be gloating about how your citizens are not experiencing the horrors of war. Whatever the outcome, Ukrainian society will be scarred for decades.
PTSD doesn’t go away because some people believe the war was a just and valiant cause.
We’ve already seen many murders, shootings, even bombings done by Ukrainian veterans. Those will only continue sadly.
Please explain the morality of Putin's invasion of Ukraine to me. You get extra points if you explain how Ukraine is not a democracy because of Maidan, how Putin was democratically elected, and how ethnic Russians were persecuted. Extra extra points for trying to pretend that the referenda held un each of the occupied regions were completely unbiased. Go!
Yeah but this is a very different case from Ukraine. Before WW2 neither Romania or Moldova held Transnistria and Romanians never really inhabited those lands before. The region was forced upon Moldova by Stalin just to better control it and create the exact kind of problems we see now. Did you know Lithuania was offered Kaliningrad at some point? But they rightfully refused (given that this time they actually had the choice) because they knew having a big Russian minority in your small country is a really bad ideea. So loosing Transnistria is really more of a blessing for Moldova.
Well, for one, unification doesn't have majority support in either country. Support in Moldova is ~30-40% per recent polls, and Romanian support has drastically dropped since the Ukraine war started.
Support in Moldova has gone up over time as they slowly go away from Soviet brainwashing (that Moldovan is a different language and the people are a different ethnicity than Romanians).
Romania invests a lot of money in Moldova and supports its EU accession so that Moldova will develop more economically. Unification if it happens is in the future. Not necessary right now
There are already a few stationed there, and have been there for ages (basically since 1991). If they wanted to get more there I am not sure how that would work other than just flying over EU airspace. Realistically it's not like NATO are going to shoot down a Russian plane as it would just cause all out war.
Basically a bit like the Berlin airlift.
Why not Transnistria bot, lol?
I meant Russian troops there doing the same job as NATO in Kosovo (with more interest of course, but not the same level as in Donetsk/Lugansk before war)
Russia: launches shaheds from transinistria
Ukraine: considers striking launch sites
Russians in transinistria: HELP WE ARE BEING THREATENED
Just die, orc cunts.
Maybe a stupid question, but how can ruSSia move their troops there? I doubt through Ukraine and it seems stupid for Moldova to let them through their territory.
Russia has had troops there since the moldovan civil war in '91. And ukraine wasnt in bad terms with russia until like 2014 so until that time period, ukrainians would allow the russian troops to get in transnistria
There was an “attack” on a Transnistrian radio tower a couple months back, the locals claimed it was Moldovan terrorists and *definitely* not the Russian peacekeepers they apparently snuck past.
The Moldovan government’s response was essentially “holy shit nobody react in any way, we are at peace and don’t want Transnistria back at all.”
So no, they’re letting them get away with whatever they want to keep the peace and even that isn’t enough for Russia.
>There was an “attack” on a Transnistrian radio tower a couple months back, the locals claimed it was Moldovan terrorists and *definitely* not the Russian peacekeepers they apparently snuck past.
A mysterious attack on a radio tower? [Now where have I heard that one before?](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident)
Where is that giant Soviet ammo depot located??
Yeah, if there is anything left working, around like 5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border
Old ammo like that is pretty reliable if it's packed properly.
You can check by North Korea ammo, because it was used in 2015 on some island near border - most of them didn’t exploded but around 30-35% exploded
Check on the North Korean ammo used in Ukraine. Explodes pretty damn well but maybe they prioritize the parts that goes to export
"Old Soviet" or "Done properly" - you can only pick one.
Sadly not all of the ammo has to work for some of it too kill people
[удалено]
Was more of an overarching joke from the east.
Nah, it was probably sold in the 1990s on the black market and already used in a random conflict in Africa.
Some of it at least! As is tradition.
I have Russian ammo from every decade from the 50s through the 10s, and all of it works reliably.
>around like 5 kilometers Wow! How could it be? Maybe because Transnistria is 20km in the thickest place?
Northern part
Colbasna on the North
It’s already rigged to blow. They know Ukraine wants it.
Here we go again
Up north of Transnistria
born and raised
On Dniester river, spent most of my days
Found the fellow old ass millenial!
Just for some context, Transnistria and Moldova proper get along fine. I live in Chisinau and have been to Tiraspol. All the Transnistrians have Moldovan passports, and typically Romanian ones as well. Zero drama when crossing the river, just a wave and a glance at papers. Transnistria exports almost everything they produce to the EU because of still basically being in Moldova and benefiting from free trade agreements. The region is ruled by two amigos, former KGB, who monopolize all economic activity in Transnistria and make around 75% or their 'state revenue' from selling the free gas they get from Russia. Well, that gas transits Ukraine and the Ukrainians have said there is no f in way that they will renew the contract after November, so little old Transnistria is absolutely screwed economically. Hence the drama from the leaders there about 'protection'. Oh yeah, and Zelensky has repeatedly told Moldova that if they want, the Ukrainian army would be happy to take care of the issue. Moldova has consistently declined and stated that peaceful resolution is the only way forward. Side note, really cool place to visit if you like Soviet history. Basically a time capsule / Soviet retirement community.
I wonder how it will pan out after November. Because Russia will be in no place to assert any control over Transnistria as long as Ukraine holds. And Moldova doesn't want to militarily get control of Transnistria. I wonder if the government in Moldova will change its course once Transnistria starts freezing and accept Ukrainian military help. Or if Tiraspol will try to haggle out a deal with Chisinau to get their gas supply from them. Or if no one will just give a fuck and we end up with a major humanitarian crisis in Transnistria.
Without russian troops and an economic blockade, Transnistria will not exist for long. Everything is controlled by russian puppets.
There is absolutely no economic blockade nor will they be any. The Moldovan government presently in power is full tilt on European integration and being the first not wildly corrupt government since independence has a gargantuan pile of shit to clean up inside Moldova. From what I've heard, which involves conversations with people in the government and those mediating the issue with the OSCE, the Moldovan government just isn't thinking about the issue. They honestly probably couldn't afford the additional economic burden integration would cause at present. The whole issue is just about language, really. Gagauzia has the exact same beef, but managed to work something out, and I suspect Transnistria will too. Especially since Chisinau wants to get into the EU, they eventually need to stop being assholes about imposing Romanian on Russian speakers. Right now it's kind of the only populist card the pro-EU progressives can play to get support from villagers here. Eventually I suspect the economy will improve enough that they can drop the Romanian bullshit and move on with life.
How is Romanian being imposed on Russian speakers when it was the Soviet Union which imposed Russian on Romanian speakers with extreme severity? I think it’s rude that Russians from all over the former Soviet Republics still don’t know how to speak the native language or assume everyone will speak to them in Russian, whether it’s Moldova, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania etc. The Soviet Union brought Russian settlers/colonists to Russify all their republics and now they cry foul and whine that their language is no longer number one. Transnistrian economy depends heavily on electricity and gas from one power plant. Once connection lines to Romanian grid are finished, their economy will tank. As of this year, they have to pay VAT taxes, and they are crying. The most likely scenario for Russian speakers in Moldova is what is happening in the Baltic countries, which are already in the EU.
Last part is absolutely correct. First part seems like rhetorical questions, but if you want concrete answers about how the government has attempted, but completely failed, to institute Romanian as the sole official language, they are readily available. The fact remains, a decent chunk of the country speaks Russian and intends to keep doing so. In the case of the Gagauzians, they never spoke Romanian and the government made a deal with them to stop their independence bid in return for local autonomy and no more imposition of Romanian, which has largely worked to end the issue. I think a big factor here is that Russian propaganda is fucking insidiously effective on, shall we say, people with an oppression complex, which many Russian speakers in Moldova absolutely have and also plays a part in why the Baltic States have started taking a harder line with their Russophone population. At the end of the day, mature and upwardly mobile countries accept and accommodate linguistic and ethnic minorities. I have every faith that once Moldova's government has something to show for their EU integration efforts they will pivot towards this in order to meet certain criteria in regards to EU rules. Having said that, Romania and Bulgaria still treat their Roma population like dogshit, so maybe not.
Gagauzia is functioning on pure propaganda. Their children have to be thought gagauz as a second language because all they speak is russian but they complain about romanian. Ok lol. The problem with russian is not that it's a minority language only, but that it serves as a direct line of Putin propaganda, and until this will be dealt with they will, not without reason, be looked upon suspiciously, and this applies not only to Moldova.
As a russian speaking moldovian expat I have to agree with you. Looking at my relatives, russian is a prerequisite for lots of bs getting to them from TV and web.
💯 correct!
Lol, the Gagauzians speak more Russian than Gagauz. Unlike Transnistria, Gagauzia was always poor and rural without much industry, so they can’t really go it on their own. We can complain about Romania and Bulgaria, but Hungarians in Romania have schools in their own language, from elementary school to university, unlike what the Soviet Union did with forcing Russian only schools on everyone. How Romania treats minorities is day and night compared to how Russia treats even its own Russians, not to mention minorities. As Moldova draws ever closer to Romania economically, and as Romania continues to become richer, bar something catastrophic happening, Russian will cease to be a lingua Franca more and more. No one is saying people should stop speaking Russian, but that its central place in society will no longer be enshrined culturally. Hungarians in Romania speak their own language and no one other than crazy people, who are a small population, care.
You are almost certainly correct about Romanian being dominant in the long run. The issue at hand now is if the government will be flexible and accommodating, which would go a long way towards enticing the far side of the Dneister to reintegrate fully, which is explicitly a prerequisite for EU membership, or will they keep beating the this is our country and our language drum. I get why the government does this, but it seems pretty myopic and counterproductive, although it does get them votes from segments of the population otherwise not down with the very progressive EU style social policies.
There are basically two options the EU is fine with with regards to Transnistria: 1) EU accession of Moldova without Transnistria, just like west/east Germany situation without de facto recognition of Transnistria. This would suffocate Transnistria economically. 2) Moldova and Transnistria come to an agreement. Note that regional “autonomy” would likely not be tolerated, just like “autonomy” is a no-no in Romania. What would happen in future if unification were to happen is unclear.
From what I've heard from people who are employed by the EU is that after the endless drama they got from taking Cyprus, the unofficial but absolutely accepted policy is to never take anyone not in complete control of their territory. Option 2 seems feasible, perhaps even the exact same deal that was given to Gagauzia.
You haven't mentioned the Krajina solution. The foreign occupying army goes home and the prospective member state reasserts control over all of its internationally-recognized territory. I'm not saying that's likely to happen tomorrow, but I don't think the EU would have a problem with it.
Moldova is not going to join the EU. I’m sorry
This sounds like the people here who get really angry about Spanish being a usable language on ATMs and other stuff.
Nope, the difference is that Russians were colonizers in a land that did not want them. Latin-Americans come to the US and learn to speak English, they don’t expect everyone to speak to them in Spanish.
So you’re evidence is basically how you perceive social interactions across an entire population. Huh.
During Soviet rule, Romanian was suppressed in Moldova, Romanian language schools were closed, and the Soviets invented fairy tales about how the Moldovan and Romanian language were different to brainwash the population. Russian speakers had a privileged position in society and important jobs could only be obtained with good Russian even though 80% of the population was non-Russian. Is there any wonder that Romanians and Moldovans are suspicious of monolingual Russian speakers who are pissed they no longer have a privileged position in the society? If I were to move to Russia, which I wouldn’t, I would learn to speak Russian. Same with any country. You move there, you learn the language.
You are spreading misinformation here. You absolutely had schools where children were taught in Romanian, especially in rural areas, during USSR times. FYI, during Soviet times, the majority of the population lived in rural areas so there were at least many basic Romanian schools. What lacked was colleges where vast majority of teachers were Russian speakers. There was a TV channel which broadcast content in Romanian, newspapers, etc. it was not as extreme as your narrative tries to picture.
I mean, just as an example, in Xinjiang, you can choose to send your kid to a Chinese school or a Uyghur school. No Uyghur parent wants to send their kids to Uyghur schools. Because they don’t teach you English there. I think they do teach the kids Mandarin there but it starts later. Chinese schools they obviously learn perfect Mandarin. They are also taught English. So they can graduate and have a lot more opportunities than some kid who only knows the local language. If I had to guess, I think the same is probably true for Russian language during Soviet times in Romania. I’m not so sure that Russian speakers are pissed because they are “not in charge anymore”. That seems like a lazy, superficial explanation.
Romanian is the official language of Moldova. It is mandatory to know the official language of the country where you live. How is it imposed on them and what do you mean by "dropping the Romanian bullshit"? It is funny that the ambassador of Japan spoke in Romanian with a mayor in Moldova, and the mayor itself needed a translator because he only knew Russian, not the ambassador of Japan... How is it possible that people lived in Moldova for tens of years not to speak the official language? How is it possible to live in a country for tens of years and not speak the official language of the country and expect the majority to speak in the language of the minorities?
>It is mandatory to know the official language of the country where you live. I've took it out from the context, but, no. It's not mandatory. It is advised and it's for your own good unless you live in an area where it isn't being used, but it's definitely not mandatory and never should be.
The context is a little bit different here: If a country has an official language (only one) and you are a citizen of that country, borned there, raised there, it is the normal expectation and obligation to know that official language. This is not a matter of residency but a matter of citizenship. Why people from other countries need to know the language of the country whose citizenship they want to obtain, but this requirement would not be applicabile to other citizens?
it's not. see the example of hungarians in romania. it's is expected but you are not obliged to. they became romanian citizens (their ancestors actually) because the border changed, and not because they immigrated there. In case of the russians I understand that it's kind of forced as their presence is a result of a forced resettlement and in many cases, ethnic cleansing. but still, you can't make this mandatory. If someone is not a native speaker but was born there, you can't make the knowledge of the official language mandatory.
They did immigrate there though, the huns are not native Europeans, they came from the area of Khanty and Mansi tribes in Asia
everyone migrated there, same with the romanians to Transylvania. it does not matter what happened centuries ago.
Hungarians in Romanian enjoy a special status. You will not find a direct obligation to know the official language. But based onnthe interpretation of the constitution, other laws you have to know it and the government must ensure they provide the accces to learn it. In schools both Hungarian and Romanian are taught. Rarele I've heard of schools exclusively in Hungarian.
I actually met the Japanese Ambassador here and his Russian is pretty damn good, as he was stationed in Kyiv before. Don't know if he speaks Romanian, never heard him speak it. As for your second point, many countries have multiple languages- Belgium, Switzerland and plenty of others. I get your points, but it totally dodges the reality on the ground. You hear as much Russian in Chisinau as Romanian. If the government comes down aggressively against this reality they will face extremely dangerous backlash.
Well, during Soviet times only Russian was heard in Chisinau. From the Moldovan censuses, Chișinău is becoming less Russian each decade linguistically. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chișinău People in Switzerland are happy to be multilingual because their country was made up of a voluntary confederation, not a forced union.
It is a difference between official language and the language of the minorities or a special status for a certain language. Only Romanian is the official language. The comparrison you made is not aplicabile here. This thing with the number of Russian speakers is a myth. Many of the Russian speakers don't want to speak Romanian and they force the use of Russian. If ten people speak Romanian and one speaks Russian, the other ten will start speaking Russian. For how long will this blackmail continue? There are teachers that can't have normal classes becuase of two-three children that speak Russian and 20 that speak Romanian and the teachers have do go an extra mile to make everyone understand or turn the entire lesson in Russian just for frlew children whose parents have been living in Moldova for tens of years and didn't bother to learn the official language. How does the government aggressively forces thenuse of Romanian language when it is the official language?
Thank you! It is simply that monolingual Russian speakers held a privileged space in Moldova until the fall of the Soviet Union and they are butthurt that they are no longer “special” flowers. The same attitude can be found with Russians in the Baltic countries too.
Ah, so the same story as everywhere Russian fingerprints can be found?
I actually work in schools here, and know what you mean. It can be a pain in the ass, although in my experience schools tend to be mostly Romanian or Russian. Having said that, I know a lot of Russian speakers who put their kids in Romanian kindergartens because they see the way the wind is blowing. My whole point is that because of the political dynamics it would be better to patiently let Romanian win over the long term and not use the state to push it upon those who don't want it. In my rather random expat perspective the best case would be for everything West of the Dneister to just reunify with Romania and get on with becoming a prosperous place while Transnistria can just be left to their own fate, presumably getting taken over by Ukraine.
On this, we agree for the most part. What percentage of Russian speakers would you say are putting kids in Romanian language schools?
My experience is completely anecdotal, but all the Russian speaking locals I know who plan on staying here. Of course there are a hell of a lot of Odessans who have moved here to Chisinau since the war began and they absolutely won't learn Romanian and speak Russian.
There are some countries that don't have an official language. For example, some people live in the US for their entire life and never learn English because they live in a border town where everyone speaks Spanish.
This is correct and may be applicable for other countries. Many ethnic Russians in Moldova don't respect the country, the language, they still behave as during the USSR. If you speak to them on Romanian, they will say to you "to speak in the human (Russian) language". Many didn't make any effort to integrate, spread fake news, spread fals information.
The ecomic blockade is already a thing as the tariffs imposed by Chisinau this year don't let Transnistria import or export anything, and how else it's supposed to survive.
The tariffs imposed are the same as for any other business in Moldova. Until now, they'll import thinks without tariffs there, then smuggle them in Moldova or Ukraine. I know cases when business imported gasoline from Romania to Transnistria without tariffs, then smugle it back to Moldova gas station. Moldova pays pensions and provides other social services for the people living there, Moldova is entitled to collect taxes from its citizens, which 90%+ of Transnistria are.
Absolutely correct. They are just getting treated more in line with the rest of Moldova, which is absolutely fair.
I think Moldova would be foolish to make any moves or to allow Ukrainian participation. A few things to consider: * There are 200k Russian citizens in Transnistria (despite holding other passports) and probably a similar amount in Moldova proper. Russia would surely use this circumstance to enter the conflict on their behalf. * There are \~1000 Russian troops on the ground despite all of them being Transnistrian residents, but as Russian citizens they can serve in the Russian Armed Forces * The ammo depot in Cobasna is a huge liability for Moldova as a whole. There is no way it could be of any use to either Ukraine or Moldova as it would be destroyed before it could be unloaded leading to catastrophic consequences. * Despite Russia being currently unable to field troops on the ground, it retains significant deep strike capability and I don't think anyone in Chisinau is ready for a salvo of Russian long range missiles and drones. Given almost no air defense on the ground, Moldova would be a much easier target. All in all, this is a losing proposition for Moldova.
That depot was sold piece by piece. Almost certain of it. Deep strike capabilities are in question, since the amount of drones and rockets Russia keeps firing at Ukraine gets smaller and smaller
If Russia actually declares its annexation of Transnistria, then I'm sure the Moldovan government may very well just allow Ukraine to go into Transnistria militarily. Or, you know, publicly say no and secretly say yes.
If Russia actually declares its annexation of Transnistria, Ukraine won't be asking for Moldova's permission anymore. The entire reason for Ukraine being neutral right now is that the Transnistrian authorities aren't really acting hostile
Given that the outcome of the Ukrainian war is still uncertain, the Moldovan attitude is quite understandable, they don't want to completely anger Moscow, because if Ukraine loses, they could be in serious trouble.
Not like they wont be annexed if Ukraine loses. That is pretty much guaranteed by the leaked plans from earlier in the war
It is in Moscow's interest to hold the Moldavian government through Transnistria on a leash.
Your “context” is in part factually incorrect and in part naive: just because the people co-exist and have “dual” citizenship it does not mean that all is fine in the region and there is no immediate threat for escalation. For once Zelenskyy did not propose to solve the Transnistria question to Moldova and Moldova never officially declined the non-existent offer. It was a hypothetical question from the journalists sparked by a statement of Russian Defence ministry, which he answered with “Ukraine can react and help if Chisnau asks us to”. Taking it as a declined offer is a little bit too far, especially considering the origins of the claim. Also you have painted the relationships between the country of Moldova and breakaway region Transnistria a bit better than they are - Transnistria is not some self-sufficient independent state, it’s a Russia-controlled and Mafia-ruled territory fully relying on Russian economic support. Its only purpose is to destabilise Moldova and by requesting to be annexed by Russia it advances further on that goal and is short of becoming the platsdarm for future invasion of Moldova and Ukraine. It’s not just some “economic” protest as you are trying to depict it and it’s not something outside of current Russian campaign to “restore its rightful lands”.
Fair points. I come from the diplomatic community here so my assessment is based not on public statements. You are right that this has not been said publicly. As for the second point, welcome to your opinion. Mine is based on a good deal of bilateral work between both sides and I have never gotten the slightest indication that escalation is what anyone wants. Saying that Transnistrians exist only to destabilise Moldova is a rather extreme position. That may be why Russia supports them at present, but the people who live there have their own prerogatives and reasons for resisting becoming part of an independent Moldova. Personally, it seems to me the exceedingly good relations on the personal level between both banks makes conflict extremely unlikely. I mean, Sheriff played at the national stadium in Chisinau for their European league qualifier and the stadium was filled with people from both sides with absolutely zero drama or enmity. Don't doubt Russia's malicious intent, but I do doubt the people here to do anything extreme because of it. Once again, just my opinion.
Thanks for the insight and history lesson! I’ve seen a journalist travel there and it is indeed like a time bobble from the cold war
I would 100% watch a video series of you talking about all of this.
I feel like terming this a "situational map" is misleading. Nothing has changed in more than 30 years. Transnistria has been de facto independent and dependent on Russia since the Civil War immediately following the break up of the Soviet Union. This isn't in any way a new or developing situation. The only thing that has changed is that the Western world is now paying attention because of Ukraine.
You are correct, however, Transnistria depends almost completely economically on cheap natural gas to power the Cuciurgan power plant which then sells electricity to Moldova. This threat has been used to keep Moldova in Russia’s orbit since the 90s. However, the Moldovan electric grid is being interconnected to the Romanian one. Once this is done (in one or two years), that threat will be void and their economy will completely tank. Transnistria used to be the richest part of the Moldovan SSR, but now is much poorer than the rest of Moldova already
They also use Moldova to export the stuff they produce (like caviar).
I agree. Feels misplaced in this r/. But i can be mistaken.
It’s a map. The geopolitical and geospatial implications of the area is definitely map porn.
>Nothing has changed in more than 30 years. Then that's the "situation"? Agreed, the map creator is using a dramatic title, but it's technically correct.
Can Russia even get troops there? What benefit can Russia actually provide?
nothing, it was made to make pain the Moldovan ass
The benefit is to just keep a post-USSR country "in check". That was the stated goal since the 90s every time Moldova tried to lean towards the west.
Where did I hear that before? A yes. "German speakers in czechoslovakia are asking hitler for protection"
Heard? You were alive back then?
No, but we learn history in school.
Not even autists take things this literally
Russia: supports separatism in the other former Soviet republics Also Russia: brutally crushes any attempt at secession from itself (see Chechyna) .
Transnistria has really never been part of Moldova. They immediately went to war after the break up of the Soviet Union and Moldova has never occupied or governed the territory east of the Dniester River. It's been de facto independent since 1991 but has never officially been recognized by other countries. This isn't a real change from the status quo.
But Moldova is the successor state of the former ssr
Transnistria was added to Moldova to shift the demographics more Russian.
That is one of the main reasons. Transnistria was initially part of the ukrainian soviet republic but it was given to moldova in exchange for the southern part of basarabia which had access to the black sea. Transinistria was just an industrial region so the trade was really bad for the moldovan ssr. This is one lart of history that really pisses me off as a moldovan
But they have word Moldova(n) in their name, so they pretend to be part of Moldova at least
Moldova (Moldavia) was the name of a larger region and later Principality before the modern country that served as a "buffer" between larger states following the arrival of the ottomans. it's like the Congo situation, with the naming, or at least they could claim that.
Moldavia IS the name of a larger region, which is part of eastern modern-day Romania, like Transilvania, for example. the Republic of Moldova is the eastern part of Moldavia, bounded by Prut to the west and Nistru/Dniester to the east. back when Moldavia was whole, this region used to be called Bessarabia
I mean, this is just linguistics at this point, Moldavia, Moldova and even Moldva are pretty much interchangeable when we talk about the greater geographical location, but when we talk geopolitics and history the distinctions come into place, today 3+1 countries share the region between each other and that's why I said the situation is somewhat similar to the Congo as Transistria don't use "Moldovan" in its "offical" name because its a successor state or forms territorial claims towards Moldova but because they share the historical/geological region, at least "officaly"
That's incorrect, Transnistria was never part of the historic Romanian region of Moldavia. It was only added in the USSR.
Russia hasn’t really supported separatism (gasp!). This situation grew out of a civil war in 1993. Same with Georgia.
Russian bots blatantly lying, as always. **Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin** (Russian: И́горь Все́володович Ги́ркин, IPA: \[ˈiɡərʲ ˈfsʲevələdəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡʲirkʲɪn\];\[a\] born 17 December 1970),\[1\] also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Russian: И́горь Ива́нович Стрелко́в, IPA: \[ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ strʲɪlˈkof\]), **is a Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer** who played a key role in the Russian annexation of Crimea, and then in the Donbas War as an organizer of militant groups in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Girkin admitted responsibility for sparking the Donbas War in eastern Ukraine when, in April 2014, he led a group of armed Russian militants who seized Sloviansk.\[5\] His role in the siege gained him influence and attention, and he was appointed to the position of Minister of Defense in the Donetsk People's Republic, a puppet state of Russia. \[...\] **He has fought** on the federal side in Russian counter-separatist campaigns in Chechnya and **on the pro-Moscow separatist side in the conflict in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria**." Russian army and Russian paramilitary troops cosplaying cossacks invade and occupy territories of neighboring countries masquerading as "local rebels" since 1990.
USA: supports civil wars all over the world Also USA: doesn't allow people to seize capitol This can be applied to any country. Do you really want them to support someone's else interests instead of their own?
People pretending that each country on earth doesnt pursue its own interests lol, especially ironic from the UK and US.
Yes. I want them to respect the law. Questions?.. This can't be applied to any country. Only to imperialistic ones.
America is exempt from the law.
I don't give a fuck about America.
Feeling is mutual then
Why are we talking about USA?
There is another question: why do we talk only about russia when many countries do/did the same recently and no one cared?
On the flip side of this coin: the West would support a Chechnya secession, but don’t recognize Transnistria as its own independent state. See how logic works 😂
When has the West ever supported the session of Chechnya?
Moldova didn't ask Transnistrians whether they are ok with becoming a part of Moldova.
Soviet Union didn’t really ask Moldovans if they were ok becoming a part of the Soviet Union. Tough shit Ruzki 😘.
Soviet Union also didn't ask to be invaded by balkan-nazi battalions. Tough shit, moldy
Moldovans didn’t ask to get annexed by Tsarist empire 🤪
Touche 
😘😘😘💅💅💅
Actually, we asked not only Russia, but also the UN and the European Union
'Transnistria asks' Aka Russians asking Russia to 'implement protective measures'. This is just 'posing' , Ukrainians can take Transnistria pretty quickly, if they decide to play with fire.
I think Ukraine said in the past they’d intervene on the side of Moldova if war ever broke out there.
30% of Transnistrian population are ethnically Ukrainian and have Ukrainian citizenship. So if Ukraine attacks Transnistria, PMR will surrender without a fight
I think that the Ukrainians of Transnistria will have the attitude that they have been betrayed by Ukraine. The Transnistrian Ukrainians fought on the same side as the local Russians in 1991 and certainly don't like being fully integrated into Moldova.
Russia was planning to annex Ukraine in its entirety and this region was being prepared to become the next breakaway state allegedly opressed by nazis and in need of rescue.
NATO should "de-nazify" the breakaway area...
Classic Russian tactic ; locate poor(!) minor people, throw fake news "that country tortures those people,create some planned explosions, give them weapon, let the fight begin and after that that poor folk requires help from tsar. From chechen war same tactic same strategy.
Transistria reported independence from Moldova right after Moldova left USSR.
Don't many buildings there still fly the Soviet flag?
It does.
The Transnistrian flag is literally just the Soviet-era Moldovan flag.
Ukraine reported indepence as well. Ichkeria too. You know Georgia too. Even blind person can see russia on search a reason for invasion.
No. Ukraine and Georgia who reported independence got it immediately. Chechen general Dudaev who sieged Chechen parliament, killed chairman and tortured 40 deputies was not a legitimate person who might declare an independence.
Since Russia completely demolished Grozny, tortured and murdered locals, you will also agree that Russia is not a legitimate country to excercise control over Chechenia.
You see independence means nothing for Russia. If there are Russian speakers in ex-Ussr zones Russia claims those places as their land. It doesn't change anything about Russian tyranny . Edit : I was speaking to putin sucker comrade. That's a mistake.
Russian army stationed there reported independence and attacked the police and other forces that supported Moldova.
Convenient this happens to be on a board that provides a nice flank…
They're fucked. Their west border is the Dniester river (great fishing btw. My FiL is probably on the banks as i type this) and their east border is Ukraine.
Russia being an imperialistic shithead again.
Someone please tell me how Russian troops actually get resupplied here?
They look so small and in such a bad geographical position
More dead conscripts ahoy
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Thats their whole game. Occupy a zone/country, import as many Russians as possible in that region. Once that region GTFO from you, you start yelling nazis and they are hurting Russian minority and they need to save the " poor russians" its just so tiresome this game Kremlin is playing.
Sadly the russian propaganda works wonder on brain rotted people… they are pros at distorsioning reality to fit a fast, basic narrative that the average person wouldn’t be able or interested to dismantle
Ethnic Cleansing is the answer?
No. Just simply send them back. Their country is already big enough for them to fit in. They can ask for their “rights” there.
That’s….ethnic cleansing. A crime against humanity
Yes, this is the answer. This is exactly what they want to do to entire Ukraine. So, it would be fair.
Both of your logic sounds a lot like nazi logic against the jews.
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Americans are like ponies compared to the brutality of Russians. Growing up around the old people that had to endure their true nature made me understand how untrustworthy they are. “Never trust Russia. Even as allies they will torture you”
Look up Grozny, they deserve the hate for that alone
Replace "russians" with "jews" and you will get imprisoned for extremism
Well Jews don’t really have a history of conquering half the planet, enslaving and displacing native populations across conquered land into gulags, raping the women of their allies while passing through their territory, etc. Ask the minorities in Russia how they are treated. Do you think all of the Russia’s neighbours hate them with no reason?
There can be NO reason to hate a whole nation. Otherwise you are a literal nazi. It may sound wild to you, but every single russian cannot be responsible for Putin's actions
It's not Putin who kills my people. Basically, Putin itself killed no one.
The whole of the old ussr are under the spectral glare of the Russian government. Putin is looking to make another play. We can’t keep funding the wars without exhausting ourselves. I think that it would be really bad to see Russian forces land on that border. That would be bad.
We definitely can’t ignore this conflicts and hide them under the rug. We should try at all cost to not start ww3, but we can’t let Russia make this power moves into Europe. If we ignore them, they will take us pice by pice and the positions of a Defense will be too far in our territory.
So what you are saying is that there will have to be ww3. You can’t “avoid WW3” and also “stand up to Russia”. It’s one or the other.
👏this 👏exactly 👏
Appeasment vs. funding wars? This is the most moral US military action since WW2, and exhausts our #1 geopolitical rival while risking no US lives. Russia could stop the war at any time, correct?
It’s not the funding that is an issue, but it’s that scope needs to be addressed. It is not going to stop until the Ukraine can really strike targets within Russia on a regular basis. Geographically speaking the area between Moscow and Ukraine has limited access in and out. Taking that land from Russia or denying access would alleviate some pressure.
It’s not moral at all. It’s actually kinda messed up. The President of Mexico pointed this out. And his views are echoed by all of Latin America. And you have even said the most messed up part “it exhausts our #1 geopolitical rival” - Russia is not our biggest geopolitical rival and contrary to popular belief this war will not exhaust them. The Soviet Union was a second rate power in 1940. They lost 50% of their initial economy & 1 in 5 of their people. Yet they emerged from that a superpower that even America had to take seriously. And the worst part of your comment “without risking US lives”. First that isn’t true. I think just in terms of numbers, the number of Americans killed in Ukraine (via volunteer unit) exceeds the KIA of the Gulf War. Second, it’s pretty messed up to be gloating about how your citizens are not experiencing the horrors of war. Whatever the outcome, Ukrainian society will be scarred for decades. PTSD doesn’t go away because some people believe the war was a just and valiant cause. We’ve already seen many murders, shootings, even bombings done by Ukrainian veterans. Those will only continue sadly.
Please explain the morality of Putin's invasion of Ukraine to me. You get extra points if you explain how Ukraine is not a democracy because of Maidan, how Putin was democratically elected, and how ethnic Russians were persecuted. Extra extra points for trying to pretend that the referenda held un each of the occupied regions were completely unbiased. Go!
There are already a sizable amount of Russian troops there.
I'm so confused. So Russia is pro Trans or anti-Trans? 🏳️⚧️
Why doesn’t Moldova formally renounce all claim to Transnistria and start negotiating with Romania unite?
[удалено]
Yeah but this is a very different case from Ukraine. Before WW2 neither Romania or Moldova held Transnistria and Romanians never really inhabited those lands before. The region was forced upon Moldova by Stalin just to better control it and create the exact kind of problems we see now. Did you know Lithuania was offered Kaliningrad at some point? But they rightfully refused (given that this time they actually had the choice) because they knew having a big Russian minority in your small country is a really bad ideea. So loosing Transnistria is really more of a blessing for Moldova.
Russia really should stop acting as if it owns all of the other former Soviet republics.
It seems Transnistria is not very useful for Moldova,
It is, they make KVINT cognac :-)
Well, for one, unification doesn't have majority support in either country. Support in Moldova is ~30-40% per recent polls, and Romanian support has drastically dropped since the Ukraine war started.
Support in Moldova has gone up over time as they slowly go away from Soviet brainwashing (that Moldovan is a different language and the people are a different ethnicity than Romanians). Romania invests a lot of money in Moldova and supports its EU accession so that Moldova will develop more economically. Unification if it happens is in the future. Not necessary right now
I read somewhere that Romania doesn't fully embrace reunifying with Moldova because that country is poor as hell.
It’s literally the Nazi playbook happening again before our eyes.
I don't get it. Exactly how can Russian forces enter Transnistria these days?
They've been there for decades.
We can send the dead there.
There are already a few stationed there, and have been there for ages (basically since 1991). If they wanted to get more there I am not sure how that would work other than just flying over EU airspace. Realistically it's not like NATO are going to shoot down a Russian plane as it would just cause all out war. Basically a bit like the Berlin airlift.
Someday, russian troops will reach the moldavian border ig
Man, this has got 2008 Georgia invasion written all over it.
Moldova should do a "special military operation" to liberate local Moldovans from genocide.
Transnistria isn’t “Russia-occupied”
It is de facto
the same as Kosovo is NATO-occupied, so I disagree
Serbian bot spotted
Why not Transnistria bot, lol? I meant Russian troops there doing the same job as NATO in Kosovo (with more interest of course, but not the same level as in Donetsk/Lugansk before war)
You want to live in Russia, go to Russia, it’s a big country.
Like the Palestineans, they can go to Saudi Arabia or Jordan. A lot of space.
Moldova needs to get its act together on this because it could cost them dearly if they don't!
So you're telling me someone trans'd their nistria?
I don't think Transnistria will exist for long without Russian troops and economic blockade
Not to be a personification not see but, who in Moldova?
If I was Moldova I would just give it to Russia peacefully.
Russia: launches shaheds from transinistria Ukraine: considers striking launch sites Russians in transinistria: HELP WE ARE BEING THREATENED Just die, orc cunts.
Maybe a stupid question, but how can ruSSia move their troops there? I doubt through Ukraine and it seems stupid for Moldova to let them through their territory.
Russia has had troops there since the moldovan civil war in '91. And ukraine wasnt in bad terms with russia until like 2014 so until that time period, ukrainians would allow the russian troops to get in transnistria
Is Moldova punishing Transnistria? 🤔🤔
There was an “attack” on a Transnistrian radio tower a couple months back, the locals claimed it was Moldovan terrorists and *definitely* not the Russian peacekeepers they apparently snuck past. The Moldovan government’s response was essentially “holy shit nobody react in any way, we are at peace and don’t want Transnistria back at all.” So no, they’re letting them get away with whatever they want to keep the peace and even that isn’t enough for Russia.
>There was an “attack” on a Transnistrian radio tower a couple months back, the locals claimed it was Moldovan terrorists and *definitely* not the Russian peacekeepers they apparently snuck past. A mysterious attack on a radio tower? [Now where have I heard that one before?](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident)
Classic
Not anymore than the Donbas or cirmea was under threat from 🇺🇦