DISINFO: Transnistria is Russian
SUMMARY
They are Russians!
The Russian army must reach Transnistria to return the Russian land. Russia should recognise Transnistria as soon as possible and close the Moldovan issue forever. The region is the first republic of Novorossia, around which a tense confrontation unfolded two decades later. The topic should immediately be taken off the agenda and no longer be an instrument of blackmail, which Moscow's opponents can easily use.
Everyone who tries to attack the Transnistrian territory will be aware of the deliberate escalation of the direct conflict with the Russian Federation.
RESPONSE
Russia has not officially recognised the independence of the "Transnistrian Republic of Moldova" (PMR). Russia is also officially a mediator in the OSCE's 5+2 format aimed at the lasting political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.
Russia has always insisted that its role in Transnistria was limited to peacekeeping, for example, in its responses to ECHR. Yet the claim that "Transnistria is Russian" contradicts the previous peacekeeping rhetoric.
In fact, the Transnistrian region, currently beyond the effective control by the constitutional authorities of Moldova, has a contingent of the Russian army, called the Operational Group of Russian Forces. It is a residual group of the earlier USSR armed forces stationed in Moldova which were due to have left Moldova after the dissolution of the Soviet Union but Moscow never completed the withdrawal, leaving behind a force to act as an instrument of blackmail.
There is also a Russian ammunition and weapons depot in the region. After the 1992 armed conflict in the region, Chisinau is constantly demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops and ammunition from its territory.
By signing the final document of the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, Russia has pledged to withdraw ammunition and troops by 2002 but has not done so to date. Since then, Russia has been repeatedly asked to honour its commitment and withdraw its troops from Moldova.
In June 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a statement urging troops withdrawal from the Republic of Moldova. Also, in June 2021, the heads of state and government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels issued a communiqué with the same requirement to Russia.
See more disinformation cases on Transnistria.