The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine of planning to invade the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria through a false flag operation, the Russian Information Agency Novosti, also known as RIA, reported.
Russia said Ukraine was planning to stage a fake Russian attack from Transnistria as a pretext for its invasion, according to the RIA.
But it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who this week revoked a decree that had committed Russia to a deal in Transnistria that would respect Moldova’s territorial integrity.
The Institute for the Study of War states that this move does not indicate that Putin intends to attack Moldova – an objective for which he lacks military capacity – although it does point to an escalation in his continued efforts to undermine the Moldovan state.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said earlier this month that the country had intelligence suggesting that Russia was plotting a coup to “overthrow” the Moldovan authorities and wreak havoc in the small former Soviet republic. .
When Russia invaded Ukraine exactly one year ago, Moscow wanted to create a land corridor through southern Ukraine to the breakaway region of Transnistria: a narrow strip of land almost 200 km long and 30 km wide between the Dniester River and the Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine, which is not recognized as a sovereign state by the international community or, indeed, by Russia. But just under 2,000 Russian soldiers have been crammed there since 1992.
In recent days, the President of Russia has once again revived his imperialist narrative that Russia is fighting for its “historical borders.” A concept that has already been used in the invasion of Ukraine and that could be used to justify aggression against almost any of Russia’s neighbors besides Moldova.
Source: Euronews Español
