Latest news with #Transnistrian
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First Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Putin wants puppet govt in Moldova to deploy troops in breakaway region Transnistria, warns PM
Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean has warned that Vladimir Putin wants to install a puppet government in the country so it can strengthen Russia's hold on the breakaway region of Transnistria. read more Vladimir Putin wants to install a puppet government in Moldova so it can strengthen Russia's hold on the breakaway region of Transnistria, the country's premier has warned. Moldova is sandwiched between Ukraine to the north, east, and south, and Romania to the west. Its border region of Transnistria has been controlled by a pro-Russia regime since 1990. With the Russian backing, the separatists fought and won a brief war with Moldova in 1992. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ahead of elections in the country in September, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean has told Financial Times that Putin is interfering in the country's politics so that he could replace the pro-European Union (EU) government with a pro-Russia, puppet government. If such a puppet government is elected, Putin would deploy 10,000 soldiers in Transnistria, said Recean. 'This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy' Recean has said that Putin's plot is a bid to undermine Moldova's democracy. 'This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy. They want to consolidate their military presence in the Transnistrian region,' said Reacan. Since 1992, when Russia intervened in favour of the separatist regime, its soldiers have been stationed in Transnistria. The number, however, is relatively small and it is not easy to deploy more soldiers as the region is landlocked and has no direct road link to Russia. Recean further said, 'You can imagine with 10,000 troops, what the leverage and pressure would be on the south-western part of Ukraine, but also close to Romania, which is a Nato member state.' Russia has long had eyes on Moldova This is not the first time that Russian interference has been reported in Moldova, formerly a part of the Soviet Union. In last year's referendum about the European Union (EU) membership, unprecedented Russian interference was reported in the form of propaganda dissemination, buying people's votes, and subversive activities like cyberattacks. A narrow majority of people voted to make way for Moldova's EU membership. The process to join the EU began last year and is expected to be completed by 2028-29. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For years, analysts have warned that Moldova could be the next target of Russian aggression after Ukraine as it is a former Soviet republic in Russia's extended neighbourhood and is neither a member of Nato nor the EU. This means the country has no external security blanket like some other countries in Russia's neighbourhood or extended neighbourhood, such as Finland and Romania. Moreover, unlike Ukraine, Moldova has a very small and poorly armed and trained military that is unlikely to withstand any invasion. The country is therefore considered a soft target for Russia.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia seeks to deploy 10000 troops to Transnistria and potentially undermine election, Moldovan PM Recean says
Russia aims to deploy 10,000 troops to Transnistria and install a pro-Kremlin government in Moldova to enable it, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean told the Financial Times in an interview published June 4. 'They want to consolidate their military presence in the Transnistrian region,' Recean said, adding that Russia's goal is to increase leverage not only near Ukraine's southwest but also close to NATO member Romania. Although Russia has maintained a limited military presence in Transnistria since the 1990s, only 1,000-1,500 troops remain today. 'Currently, their forces there are almost meaningless,' Recean noted. However, he warned that a Russia-leaning government in Chisinau could authorize a buildup, citing Moldovan intelligence estimates for the 10,000-troop target. Recean accused Russia of meddling in Moldova's upcoming parliamentary elections through propaganda, illegal financing, and 'spending the equivalent of 1% of Moldova's GDP' on influence operations in 2024. He said Moldovan authorities had intercepted citizens carrying large sums of Russian cash and discovered that 130,000 voters in the previous election received money from Russian sources. 'This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy,' Recean said, affirming that Moldova remains committed to becoming an EU member.' The Kremlin has not publicly responded to these allegations. Transnistria is a Russia-controlled breakaway region of Moldova that Moscow occupied in the early 1990s under the pretext of protecting the Russian population. The region borders Ukraine's Odesa Oblast and is internationally recognized as part of Moldova. Read also: Polish PM Tusk blames Russian hackers for cyberattacks ahead of presidential election We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Moldovan PM: Russia wants pro-Kremlin government in Chișinău and 10,000 troops in Transnistria
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean has stated that Russia seeks to deploy 10,000 troops in the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova and to establish a pro-Kremlin government in Chișinău. Source: Recean in an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda Details: The prime minister said Russia is interfering in Moldova's parliamentary elections, scheduled for the end of September 2025, hoping that the future government will be more sympathetic to Moscow and will allow a larger Russian military presence in Transnistria. "This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy… They want to consolidate their military presence in the Transnistrian region," Recean said. He stated that the estimate of 10,000 troops that Russia could deploy in Transnistria is based on intelligence from Moldovan security services. "Currently, their forces there are almost meaningless. But with a higher military presence in Transnistria that a Russia-leaning government can allow for, they can consolidate," Recean warned. "You can imagine with 10,000 troops, what the leverage and pressure would be on the southwestern part of Ukraine. But also close to Romania, which is a NATO member state," the Moldovan prime minister added. Background: Estimates suggest there are currently about 1,500 troops sporting the Russian flag in Transnistria, most of whom are local residents. Moldova consistently maintains that the presence of Russian troops in Transnistria is illegal and Chișinău expects their unconditional withdrawal. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Putin's new decree leaves millions of Ukrainians under occupation with an impossible decision
As the U.S. tries to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree that appears to present Ukrainians living in occupied territories with a choice — submit to Russian law by Sept. 10 or face punishment. The decree, published by the Kremlin on March 20, is just the latest move in a long-standing campaign aimed at forcing Ukrainians under occupation to accept Russian citizenship. The motivation is simple — the greater the number of Russian citizens living in an occupied area of Ukraine, the easier it is for Moscow to justify its control. And with peace negotiations in progress, asserting an illusion of authority over Ukraine's east and south has never been more vital for the Kremlin. The choice presented to Ukrainians by Russia is an illusion — refusing a passport means no access to legal work, basic health services, pensions, or property rights, while "deportation" means anything but being sent back to Ukraine or another country. "We know that a large number of people are kept in detention centers, and they are not deported anywhere," Kseniia Yeltsova, co-chair of Helping to Leave, a Ukrainian charity that tries to help people leaving the occupied territories, told the Kyiv Independent. "People are simply gathered there, and that's it." Issuing citizenship en masse to exert geopolitical influence — a process dubbed "passportization" — is a tried-and-tested Russian tactic. The Kremlin previously carried out similar campaigns in the Russian-controlled territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, as well as Transnistria in Moldova, providing dedicated fast-track routes for local people to receive Russian citizenship. "In Transnistria, for example, a person will likely have a Transnistrian passport, a Moldovan passport, and a Russian passport at the same time," Maryna Rabinovych, an assistant professor at the Department of Public Policy and Governance at the Kyiv School of Economics, told the Kyiv Independent. But in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, authorities have made it increasingly difficult to use Ukrainian documents. Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are partially controlled by Russian troops. Russia claims to have annexed the whole territory of those regions in 2022 despite not controlling two regional capitals — Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also controls Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. It's not known exactly how many Ukrainians live under Russian occupation, but in December, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was "at least several million." On paper, Ukrainians who do not want to take Russian citizenship can apply for a residence permit that will allow them to live and work in Moscow-controlled areas. But in reality, these are difficult for Ukrainians to obtain. "In occupied Kherson, there were 17 branches of the Russian Ministry of the Interior where you could receive a Russian passport," Kateryna Rashevska, legal advisor at the Regional Center for Human Rights in Kyiv, told the Kyiv Independent. "But there was only one place where you could submit your documents and receive a residential permit." Permits are also issued according to strict quotas, says Rashevska. In 2022, a quota of just 5,000 was given for the whole of Crimea — a region that, in 2021, occupation authorities said had a population of approximately 2.48 million. Without a residency permit, there are few options left for Ukrainians who wish to continue living and working in their occupied communities. Lacking Russian paperwork to formalize their status, according to the imposed Russian law, makes it impossible to access pensions or claim rights over their own property. They also cannot access healthcare, and according to investigations by Reuters and the European Broadcasting Union — those without Russian passports have reported being denied access to lifesaving medication or hospital-provided diapers for newborns. Children also need Russian paperwork to attend local schools. But for a child to receive Russian citizenship, one of their parents must also be a Russian citizen — making it easy for occupying authorities to pressure Ukrainians who refuse a Russian passport through their own children. "Parents are manipulated because of their children, and children are manipulated because of their education. As of today, it is just impossible to survive in occupied territories without Russian documents," says Rashevska. "It is a circle without any possibility of escape." Those Ukrainians who refuse to accept Russian passports also face the prospect of violent retribution. A report by U.S. research group the Ukraine Conflict Observatory in 2023 found that Ukrainians who refused Russian citizenship faced intimidation, threats, and possible detention by soldiers who roamed the streets checking documents. Then there is the prospect of "deportation," which can take various forms, none of which involve being sent to Ukraine-controlled territory or to a neutral or friendly country. In the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast in 2023, Russian officials posted videos of masked men ordering citizens — who stand on the roadside with their hands bound — to simply start walking towards the front line. Far from being a dirty secret, the region's Russian-installed governor, former Ukrainian pro-Russian lawmaker Yevgeny Balitsky, openly discussed the practice as part of Russia's deportation policy. Putin's latest decree and its deadline of Sept. 10, mean many more Ukrainians face being forced from their homes with no idea of what comes next. Yeltsova, the co-chair of Helping to Leave, said her organization has already been contacted by people who are being told they will be deported. "These people with only Ukrainian documents are already beginning to be threatened," she said. When asked where they face being sent, she said, "No one knows the answer to it." "When we ask these people where they are being deported to, what they are told about it, they do not know themselves," she adds. Yeltsova said many Ukrainians are simply sent to detention centers, sparse details of which are passed on by the Ukrainians who manage to make it out of the occupied territories. "There are a lot of such centers in Russia, and there are a lot of Ukrainians there," she said. As Moscow makes it harder and harder for Ukrainians to stay in their homes, it simultaneously encourages Russians to fill and distort the demographic gap. "Occupied Crimea is the easiest example," Rabinovych said. "A lot of people living there now are Russian citizens who came to the area from Russia (after the illegal annexation in 2014)." "They're living there instead of the Ukrainians who didn't want to take Russian citizenship and left the territory. If the situation on the ground doesn't change, I'd expect that the population of newly-occupied Ukrainian territories will also be entirely different in the next five years." Russia has already tried to rubber stamp this forced demographic change by holding sham referendums on the illegal annexation of Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts in September 2022. The votes were held at gunpoint and with widespread voter intimidation and soldiers going door to door with ballot boxes. "Putin wants to demonstrate to the United States and other countries that people in newly occupied territories and in Crimea support the Russian Federation," Rashevska said. Worryingly, it seems to be working — U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, a key figure in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, said last month that occupied Ukrainian oblasts "are Russian-speaking, and there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule." Journalist Yuliia Taradiuk contributed to this story. Read also: As Russian troops retake settlements in Kursk Oblast, Ukraine launches attack on adjacent Russian region We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Moldova wants Russia to withdraw troops from Transnistria as part of peace negotiations with Ukraine
Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean believes that Russia can withdraw its troops from Transnistria as part of negotiations on Ukraine and European security. Source: European Pravda, citing Jurnal TV, a Moldovan TV channel Details: The Moldovan prime minister was asked what conditions would be necessary for Russia to withdraw its illegally stationed troops from the country. Quote: "There is now an international context that could lead to Russia withdrawing its troops from the left bank of the Dniester as part of this negotiation process. It may not necessarily happen within a peace negotiation process – that is hard to imagine in the near future – but rather as part of negotiations concerning Ukraine and the new EU security architecture." More details: Moldova will insist on bringing this issue to the negotiating table, he added. Recean believes that any negotiations currently related to peace or a ceasefire in Ukraine are, in essence, about a new security architecture in Europe. Background: Transnistria, where Russian troops have been illegally stationed for over 30 years in violation of Moldova's sovereignty, remains a source of regional tension. Moldova's President Maia Sandu previously stated that she hopes for a "geopolitical opportunity" to resolve the Transnistrian conflict. Support UP or become our patron!
