Officials in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region in Moldova, have held a rare meeting in which they called on Moscow for help with security.
There had been reports that the region's council of deputies could call on Russia to annex Transnistria, where Russian troops are already based, posing a security threat to Moldova as the war in neighboring Ukraine continues to rage.
While they did not do that, the officials have called on Russia's Federation Council and parliament (State Duma) to help protect the region "in the face of increased pressure from Moldova," Russian state news agency Tass reported.
The appeal referred to Russia's "status of a guarantor and mediator" towards Moldova, with Chisinau accused of destroying the breakaway region's economy and violating the freedoms of its population.
The document agreed by 600 delegates representing the parliament and city, district and village councils, said that Transnistria will "fight for its own identity and the rights and interests" of its people.
Dionis Cenusa, a risk analyst with the Lithuania-based Eastern Europe Studies Center, told Newsweek that the statement "is reserved in the part relating to the request towards Russia" and "has a moderate tone regarding the condemnation of Chisinau."
But the document has sparked speculation about what Russia might do next, given its intervention in Ukraine's Donbas region prior to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of the country.
"Transnistria is coordinating with the enemy to launch the DNR/LNR scenario in Moldova," citizen media group Ukraine Front Lines posted on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the so-called Moscow-aligned Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which Putin later declared were annexed territories.
"Ukraine should make clear that (Russian) forces in Transnistria are legitimate targets for Ukraine and our military command should be prepared to help Moldova liberate Transnistria of (Russian) forces," the post added.
X user Jürgen Nauditt, posted: "Transnistria today turns to Russia for 'help…The media of the aggressor country disseminated a fragment of the draft resolution received by the deputies for review. It talks about 'pressure' from Moldova."
Author and journalist, Pekka Virkki, wrote on X: "As the Collective West keeps hesitating, the #Russian aggression advances more rapidly than most of us predicted...is it the right time for #Ukraine & #Moldova to preempt & deoccupy #Transnistria?"
Moldova has no control over Transnistria, which claimed independence after the collapse of the USSR, sparking an intervention by Moscow.
Russian troops remain in the region whose independence neither Moscow nor the international community recognizes.
The Institute for the Study of War said this week that Vladimir Putin's speech in November 2023 about the "Russian world" showed he viewed Russian speakers and those in post-Soviet states such as Moldova as occupying parts of Moscow's rightful historical territory.
The think tank said the Kremlin considered Transnistria as a tool to execute hybrid war operations against Moldova and Ukraine, as well as to destabilize NATO.
Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Moldova and Russia by email for comment.
Update 02/28/24, 9:52 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
