Putin's chilling plot to march 10,000 troops into ANOTHER European nation revealed by its PM… & it could spiral into WW3
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
RUSSIA reportedly plans to deploy 10,000 troops into a breakaway region of another Eastern European nation - igniting fears of Putin's war spilling further across the continent.
Moldova's Prime Minister has warned the Kremlin wants to march troops into Transnistria - a Moscow-friendly enclave that's internationally recognised as part of Moldova.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
7
Cars wait in line at the crossing point between the self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria and Moldova
Credit: AFP
7
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean speaks during a press conference
Credit: EPA
7
Russian troops have been based in Transnistria since 1992
Credit: Reuters
7
Russian servicemen walking along at an area in the Kursk region, Russia
Credit: EPA
7
The small landlocked region, sandwiched between Ukraine and the rest of Moldova, has been controlled by separatists for 33 years.
Transnistria receives significant economic and military support from Moscow, and the region's politicians have voiced their intent for it to become part of Russia.
The region's location between the pro-Europe governments in Moldova and Ukraine make it impossible for Putin to get soldiers in at present.
While Moldova currently has an EU-friendly government, its PM has said Russia is meddling in its upcoming election this September.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean told the FT this is likely in the hope that a more pro-Kremlin government might allow for Russian troops to be sent to Transnistria.
"This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy," he told the paper.
"They want to consolidate their military presence in the Transnistrian region."
Russian troops have been based in Transnistria since 1992, when the Kremlin supported the region in its war of independence from Moldova.
However, the numbers have substantially wound down over the years, with there currently only being about 1,500 soldiers fighting under the Russian banner.
But only a few of these will have actually been sent by Moscow, with most being locals who signed up.
Deranged Putin lays out wish list of 'surrender demands' for Ukraine… despite being humbled by Russia's 'Pearl Harbour'
Transnistria isn't internationally recognised as an independent state, and is not a member of the UN.
Think tank The Institute for the Study of War forecast last October that Russia might use its ties to Transnistria "to establish long-term influence over Moldovan domestic and foreign policies".
Recean further highlighted the ominous military threats to Ukraine and NATO that could arise from extra Russian troops in the region.
Its location to Ukraine's southwest could raise fresh headaches for Kyiv if Russia used Transnistria to open up a new front in the war.
"You can imagine with 10,000 troops, what the leverage and pressure would be on the southwestern part of Ukraine," he said.
But Recean also noted the area's proximity to Romania, which is a NATO country.
If Russian forces threatened or attacked Romania - or any other NATO member - then the entire alliance would be obliged to come to its aid.
NATO Article 5 sets out that an attack on one member state is an attack on all, meaning Russian attacks against a NATO country could quickly spiral into all-out war.
Transnistria's history
Transnistria is a tiny slither of land along Moldova's border with Ukraine
The region has been controlled by Russian backed separatists for decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It declared independence in 1990, which was followed by a war that saw Russia support Transnistria's independence.
Moscow has maintained a strong military presence in the territory since 1992.
Many of Transnistria's political leaders have long voiced their intent for the region to become a part of Russia.
But it still remains internationally recognised as part of Moldova - a country that seeks closer co-operation with the EU.
Transnistria has a population of around 465,000.
Fears of a war between the West and Russia over Transnistria have been amplified by the separatist region's leader Vadim Krasnoselsky.
He told the Russian TASS news agency: "A war in Transnistria would mean a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
"I don't have the slightest doubt about it. Everything is closely intertwined here.
"Both Romania, a NATO member, and the Russian Federation have interests here."
Recean added that the 10,000-troop figure was based on intelligence assessments.
"Currently, their forces there are almost meaningless," he said.
"But with a higher military presence in Transnistria that a Russia-leaning government can allow for, they can consolidate."
Moldova was part of the Soviet Union before its collapse in 1991.
In recent years, it has sought to pursue closer ties with the European Union, and became an official candidate to join the EU in 2022.
A referendum held last year committing Moldova on its path to EU membership passed by just 0.7% of the vote amid what was widely believed to be a Russian interference campaign.
Recean told the FT that Russia spent the equivalent of 1% of Moldova's GDP on influence campaigns in 2024.
7
A billboard reading 'Russia in our hearts' sits on the side of a road in the town of Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria
Credit: AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why inflation has risen above expectations – and what it means for you
UK inflation climbed by more than expected in July, official figures reveal, as soaring air fares for summer holidays and food prices continue to rise. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 3.8 per cent last month, up from 3.6 per cent in June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This marks the highest rate since January 2024, when inflation stood at 4 per cent. The ONS highlighted transport costs as the primary driver behind the increase, particularly a significant surge in flight prices. Air fares jumped by 30.2 per cent between June and July, the largest monthly rise recorded since data collection began in 2001, as families booked trips during the school summer break. Here's everything you need to know about the latest figure: What is inflation? Inflation is the term used to describe the rising price of goods and services. The inflation rate refers to how quickly prices are going up. Put simply, July's inflation rate of 3.8 per cent means that if an item cost £100 a year ago, it would now cost £103.80. Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledged that there was 'more to do to ease the cost of living' following the latest figure. She said: 'We have taken the decisions needed to stabilise the public finances, and we're a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous government, but there's more to do to ease the cost of living. 'That's why we've raised the minimum wage, extended the £3 bus fare cap, expanded free school meals to over half a million more children and are rolling out free breakfast clubs for every child in the country.' Rail fares set to rise by more than expected Another lesser-known figure that tends to rise and fall in line with CPI is Retail Price Inflation (RPI). This rose to 4.8 per cent in July up from 4.4 per cent. This is significant as it was last years' July RPI (3.6 per cent) that set the 4.6 per cent rail fare rise in March 2025, at exactly one percentage point higher. If the same formula is used this year, then fares could rise by a massive 5.8 per cent next March. Campaigners have reacted negatively to the possibility, calling on the government for clarity. Ben Plowden, chief executive of lobby group Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'Today's inflation figure could mean a big fare rise for rail passengers next year, especially if the Government decides to go with an above-inflation increase like we saw this year. 'With the railways now moving under public control, the fundamental question for the Government is how to use its role in setting fares policy to deliver a more affordable rail network and encourage more people to travel on it. 'Next year's annual rise represents the first real opportunity for the Government to show passengers – both current and future – just how it plans to do this.' Why did inflation rise again in July? Grant Fitzner, the ONS's chief economist, explains: 'The main driver was a hefty increase in air fares, the largest July rise since collection of air fares changed from quarterly to monthly in 2001. 'This increase was likely due to the timing of this year's school holidays. 'The price of petrol and diesel also increased this month, compared with a drop this time last year. 'Food price inflation continues to climb – with items such as coffee, fresh orange juice, meat and chocolate seeing the biggest rises.' Will inflation rise again? The Bank of England is expecting CPI inflation to continue rising to a peak of 4 per cent in September, before price rises start to ease. The central bank is tasked with keeping inflation at 2 per cent. Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, suggested the Bank's policymakers could be concerned by rising inflation in the UK services sector, but that it was 'partly driven by a sharp move in the erratic airfares component, which could unwind in August's data'. The annual rate of services CPI inflation rose to 5 per cent in July from 4.7 per cent in June. 'The big picture remains that inflation is set to stay miles above target for the foreseeable future,' he said. The economist is forecasting that CPI will remain above 3 per cent until April 2026, meaning the Bank could keep interest rates on hold for the rest of the year.
The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Men, you've really got to hand it to the porn-blockers…
Poor old Pornhub. The UK's most visited pornography site is having a barren August and not just because its (mostly male) users are on holiday with the family. Following the introduction of new age verification rules, as part of the Online Safety Act – which requires users to prove how old they are by entering credit card details or using their bank account, mobile phone contract or facial recognition – traffic to Pornhub has almost halved. In the fortnight between July 24 (the day before the new legislation came in) and August 8, visitors to the site fell by 47 per cent, according to data experts Similarweb. Other adult sites have also reported drops in UK traffic. OnlyFans is apparently down 10 per cent, but that could be down to having banned Bonnie Blue. No word yet on whether the amount of laundry being done in the middle of the night has fallen, too. Let me be the first to say a tentative woohoo. I previously wrote in these pages how, ahead of the age verification kicking in, online forums had been flooded with men (and 73 per cent of UK porn users are male) angry that the trifling matter of keeping children safe was getting in the way of their unrestricted pleasure. Now? It seems possible that at least some of those chaps have cut themselves off. Sounds painful. If the side effect of protecting society's most vulnerable – the average age that children are thought to first view explicit porn in this country is just 13 – is that some men have had their own online habit broken? That's surely something to celebrate. University College London academics might say it can take between 18 to 255 days to form a new habit, but I bet their study didn't take into account the prospect of having to put your real details into a porn site and the potential for data leaks. I've interviewed porn-addicted men, who told me about the mindless scrolling, almost numb to what they were seeing, searching for ever darker material to get a kick. They wanted to stop but felt unable to tear themselves away – maybe the thought of having to enter their long card number was the breaker some have been waiting for. Not unlike (indulge me) my friend whose unstoppable M&S fashion habit was cut off by the cyberattack the retailer experienced this summer and which denied her access to its website for several weeks. Look, I'm not naive. I do realise that a lot of Pornhub's users will now be using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), which disguise the location of their IP address and were the most downloaded thing on the UK Apple App Store in the days after the new rules came in. That makes data on UK visits to porn sites hard to pin down. Nor do we know exactly which users have stopped scrolling. Is it those accessing the most violent pornography day after day? Or the more casual viewer who doesn't rely on porn enough to bother going through age checks – easier just to knock it on the head. Still, I can't help wondering whether these men might not come to thank the likes of Baroness Kidron, who campaigned tirelessly to get this legislation passed. She's likened it to making children 'climb out of the window', rather than just giving them unrestricted access. If a few men are also reluctant to shimmy down the drainpipe? That's surely progress, however angry they might be.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
Switzerland moves to strengthen its competitiveness after US tariffs
ZURICH, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland is intensifying efforts to strengthen its attractiveness as a business location, its government said on Wednesday, after being hit with some of the highest U.S. tariffs worldwide. Efforts will focus on regulatory relief for Swiss companies, and new rules incurring high costs for businesses could be pushed back, the government said in a statement. U.S. President Donald Trump this month imposed U.S. import tariffs of 39% on Swiss goods, though pharmaceuticals and some other sectors have so far been spared the duties. "(The government) wants to decisively press ahead with its economic policy agenda and is focusing on reducing the regulatory burden on companies," the government said. Geographical diversification and Swiss companies' access to alternative international markets should also be strengthened, the statement said. The new U.S. levies currently affect around 10% of Swiss goods exports, and could have potentially severe consequences for some companies, the government said. Switzerland does not anticipate a recession akin to the global financial crisis or the pandemic, it added.
