| | | Moldova should prove interesting
iwpr.net
Ukraine Crisis Sparks Anxiety in Moldova Moscow holds the strings of the de-facto
authorities in Transnistria and controls critical gas supplies.
Press conference after Moldovan government emergency meeting regarding
support for those fleeing conflict in neighbouring Ukraine, 24 February 2022.
© Government of Republic of Moldova
Moldova Mobilises for Ukrainian RefugeesOutpouring of support for huge influx of citizens fleeing the war.
As Moldova continues to accept tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, the ongoing war presents Chisinau with a range of potential military, political and energy consequences.
Moldova shares a state line of over 1,200 kilometres with Ukraine, including the border segment of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria.There, the Russian Federation maintains between 1,500 and 2,000 troops in the strip of land bordering Ukraine on the left bank of the Dniester River.
Ukraine Crisis Sparks Anxiety in Moldova Moscow holds the strings of the de-facto authorities in Transnistria and controls critical gas supplies.
he region has been de-facto out of the control of the central Moldovan government since a July 1992 ceasefire between newly independent Moldova and Russia ended a five-month war with Russian-backed forces.
Russian soldiers are split between peacekeepers installed in the region after the end of the conflict and the Operative Group of Russian Troops (OGRT). OGRT's primary duty is to guard the Soviet-era ammo depot in Cobasna, one of the biggest in eastern Europe, housing an estimated 20,000 tonnes of ammunitions. These troops are in a rotating system doing both peacekeeping and guarding.
Besides Russian troops, the paramilitary forces across Tiraspol’s defence force are estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 people.
Militarily, Moldova is far weaker. Its army numbers about 6,000 soldiers, including staff personnel, and defence expenditure accounts for about 0.4 per cent of its 11.9 billion US dollar GDP.
Decades of sparse investment have left troops with Soviet-era military equipment and neither large ground hardware nor aviation. The forces in Transnistria, on the other hand, can count on both warplanes and tanks.
The government, however, maintains that Moldova is not part of the Russian Federation’s strategy on Ukraine.
"We must be vigilant, disciplined, mobilised, but without panic. At the same time, it is pretty clear that the illegal presence of Russian troops on the territory of Moldova is a risk. But I bet that the Ukrainian people will resist," said Oazu Nantoi, a deputy with the pro-European governing Action and Solidarity Party.
He believes that sanctions will take effect, and "the war will not reach us, and the time will come to resolve [the Transnistrian] issue peacefully and turn this page".
Political analysts are less optimistic, noting that an escalation of the security situation in Moldova is not totally off the cards.
On February 26, the breakaway territory’s de facto leader Vadim Krasnoselky indicated that Tiraspol was not involved in the conflict in Ukraine, refuting Kyiv’s allegations of increased Russian military activity in Transnistria towards Ukrainian territory.
& on |
|
