Ukraine war: breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria asks Russia for ‘protection’, raising fears of further conflict

The call for help fuelled comparisons with February 2022, when Russian-backed militants in eastern Ukraine sought protection against alleged shelling by Kyiv

Transnistria has been de facto controlled by pro-Russian forces since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is internationally recognised as part of Moldova

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A statue of Lenin in front of the town hall in the capital of Transnistria, Tiraspol. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:58pm, 28 Feb 2024Updated: 3:55pm, 29 Feb 2024

Pro-Russian rebel officials in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria appealed to Russia for “protection” on Wednesday, amid fears the territory could become a new flashpoint in Moscow’s conflict with neighbouring Ukraine.

The thin sliver of land has been de facto controlled by pro-Russian forces since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is internationally recognised as part of Moldova.

At a special congress in the region – only the seventh in its history – lawmakers passed a resolution asking Russia’s parliament to “protect” Transnistria from mounting Moldovan pressure.

They said the Moldovan government in Chisinau had unleashed an “economic war” against Transnistria, blocking vital imports in the aim of turning it into a “ghetto”.

“The decisions of the current congress cannot be ignored by the international community,” the breakaway republic’s foreign policy chief Vitaly Ignatiev told the meeting.