The creation of a land corridor between Crimea and Donbass and the loss of Ukrainian access to the Black Sea are the main Russian goals; The US and Moldova have expressed concern about the escalation of the conflict
REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
On Friday 22nd, the general of the armed forces of the military district in the centre RussiaRustam Minnikhanov explained that in addition to the Donbass controlled by separatists, The Russians are also interested in dominating southern Ukraine, which would allow a corridor to be formed into Transnistria, a proRussian breakaway republic in eastern Ukraine. Moldova. THAT Kremlin has not yet commented on this information, but since the announcement, the Government of Moldova has expressed its deep concern and seen that the site has become the target of attacks such as the one that took place this Wednesday 27th and a Radio center met and security.
Officials from the proRussian separatist region announced that a village on the border with Ukraine had been shot at. “Several drones were sighted over the village of Cobasna at night,” the Transnistrian Interior Ministry said in an official statement. “Shots were fired from Ukraine that did not cause any casualties,” the text continues. The village, two kilometers from the border with the eastern European country, is home to a large Sovietera weapons depot, which is under the control of Russian soldiers stationed in the area. The possible formation of a land route and domination of southern Ukraine would make access to the Black Sea impossible for Ukrainians at the beginning of the conflict, the Russians tried to dominate the Odessa and Mikolayiv regions located in the south of the country.
What is Transnistria?
Moldova is one of the countries that belonged to it Soviet Union and became an independent state after the fall of the bloc. However, in the early 1990s a conflict erupted between the newly independent Republic of Moldova and separatists from Transnistria which has a narrow strip of land measuring about 3,490 kilometers between Ukraine and the rest of the country who wanted to remain linked with Russia. The region separated from Moldova in 1992 after a short, twoyear civil war.
Despite having its own constitution, army, currency and flag, Transnistria has never been recognized by the international community, not even by Russia, which intervened to support separation. It currently has around 500,000 residents who are extremely dependent on the Russian government, which provides free gas and has 1,500 troops stationed in the area. Moldovans do not attach great importance to this region, classifying it as “the end of the world stuck in Soviet times”, where statues of Lenin still stand. It’s not possible to use international cards there, and only a company called Sheriff handles pretty much everything.
General Rustam Minnikhanov’s desire to establish a land link with Transnistria has raised global concern, as such interests have been repeated for years on the Russian side, which uses this argument Raid other locations that were part of the Soviet Union, such as Georgia and Ukraine. The Kremlin, Moldova and the US Expressing concern about the escalation of the conflict in this region. At a press conference, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated: “According to the information we have, these attempts to escalate the situation come from factions within the Transnistria region that are prowar forces and are interested in destabilizing the region”. Immediately after At the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Moldova applied to join the European Union, but Transnistrian leaders said they did not have the same intention and called for the creation of two independent states.
Ukraine also accuses the Russians of wanting to drag the breakaway region of Transnistria into the middle of their war Kyiv. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Moldova shortly after the conflict began to demonstrate his support for the country’s sovereignty and efforts to take in refugees. State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed concern about the blasts but reiterated “the Moldovan government’s call for calm in response to these incidents and we fully support Moldova’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.” The Americans are watching developments. If General Minnikhanov’s information is confirmed, it will become clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin has much greater ambitions than the liberation of Donbass. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov commented on Minnikhanov’s testimony. On his Twitter, he declared, “They have stopped hiding,” referring to Russia and its real intentions in the conflict with Ukraine.