The European country where rebel separatists want Vladimir Putin to ‘annexe’ key region | World | News
Rebel factions in a tiny strip of breakaway territory on Ukraine‘s western border have reportedly asked Putin to ‘annexe their country’, which would give the Russian Army a back door into Ukraine.
Transnistria is a separatist area of Moldova which runs along a strip of land between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border and is not recognised internationally as a political entity.
But now Gennady Chorba, a politician in the Russian-sympathising state, has said authorities will seek to submit a request to the Kremlin on Wednesday for a special congress between rebel leaders and Putin.
Mr Chorba reportedly said: “This will be voiced to Russia on behalf of citizens living on the left bank of the Dniester River.”
It comes as leaders in Moldova, the small nation of which Transnistria is a part, warned yesterday that Russia was spreading misinformation claiming Ukraine planned to attack Transnistria, The Telegraph reports.
If Russian forces were to enter Transnistria it would be a strategic coup for Putin because the area lies on the Western side of Ukraine, an area which up until now has been harder to target for the Russians.
Moldovan leaders are worried about so-called “psy-ops” being played out by Russia to destabilise the region. The BBC reports that MPs fear Putin is planning to seize power there.
But State secretary Valeriu Mija said: “The defence ministry believes it is an element of a psychological operation rather than a real plan.”
Russia already keep around 2,000 troops in Transnistria and there were previous concerns a second front could open up after concrete machine gun posts facing Ukraine were spotted in 2022.
But Alexandru Flenchea, a former Moldovan deputy prime minister and an ex-chief negotiator on Transnistria, said the recent pro-Russian statement from the territory had been made more because of EU customs integration with Moldova, rather than a real gesture to Moscow.
He said: “This is a provocation to test reactions in Chisinau, test reactions in Kyiv and also in Moscow, the Moldovan government said that there was no indication that this was going to happen, but the public reaction, there was a lot of panic.”