Government officials around the world are becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility that Russia could soon expand its invasion into other countries.
Some officials from Transnistria held a meeting recently, during which they’ve called for Russia to help them with security matters. Transnistria is a breakaway region in Moldova.
Reports have swirled that the council of deputies in the region might urge Russia to annex that region, which could pose a significant security threat to Moldova as a whole. Russia already has military troops stationed in Transnistria.
The fears are that a similar situation could happen here that happened back in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and when it did the same in multiple eastern regions of Ukraine when it invaded back in February of 2022.
The Transnistrian officials haven’t yet called to be annexed, but did call on the Federation Council and parliament to help protect their region “in the face of increased pressure from Moldova.”
In their appeal, the officials referred to the “status of a guarantor and mediator” that Russia plays for Moldova.
Officials in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau have been accused of destroying the regional economy in Transnistria while also violating freedoms that the region’s population should have.
There are 600 delegates that represent the parliament as well as district, village and city councils. They said this week that Transnistria would “fight for its own identity and the rights and interests” of all its people.
Dionis Cenusa, who works with the Eastern Europe Studies Center as a risk analyst, said that statement “is reserved in the part relating to the request towards Russia [and] has a moderate tone regarding the condemnation of Chisinau.”
At the same time, this document has sparked concerns about what Russia might proceed to do next, after Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the annexation of the Donbas region of Ukraine before ultimately invading the country.
Ukraine Front Lines, a citizen media group, recently posted on the social media platform X:
“Transnistria is coordinating with the enemy to launch the DNR/LNR scenario in Moldova.”
They were referring to the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which are aligned with Russia and which Putin has declared were territories that were annexed.
The post continued:
“Ukraine should make clear that (Russian) forces in Transnistria are legitimate targets for Ukraine and our military command should be prepared to help Moldova liberate Transnistria of (Russian) forces.”
Another X user, Pekka Virkki, who is a journalist and author, posted:
“As the Collective West keeps hesitating, the #Russian aggression advances more rapidly than most of us predicted…is it the right time for #Ukraine & #Moldova to preempt & occupy #Transnistria?”
Moldova doesn’t possess any control over Transnistria. The region claimed independence from the country once the USSR collapsed, which sparked Moscow to intervene.
Russian military troops are stationed in the Transnistria region, even though Moscow and the international community at large doesn’t recognize.