Politics of Transnistria

The European leaders during the Summit gave the “green light” to start the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova in the European Union.

rde told Sputnik that powerful geopolitical players have emerged, such as Russia, China, India and Brazil, which are a serious counterweight to the West and NATO. "Therefore, their plans to destroy, weaken and dismember Russia are not in their favor," he said.

The separatist leader in Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky on Friday said he was proposing Alexander Rosenberg, the former Minister of Agriculture, as Prime Minister, after Alexander Martinov was fired on Thursday.

Given its geographical proximity to Ukraine, and the high number of Ukrainian citizens living in the Transnistria, the de-facto authorities of the breakaway Moldovan region have sought to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict.

But, despite the best efforts of its separatist leaders, it appears that the war in Ukraine may have finally spread to Transnistria.

The Defence Ministry of the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova has ordered the mobilisation of all men between 18 and 55, "at a special meeting to replenish the peacekeeping contingent," a statement issued to the heads of local administrations in Transnistria said.

President Maia Sandu said after a meeting of Moldova's Supreme Security Council on Tuesday that explosions in Transnistria for two days in a row "show that there are tensions between various forces" that are interested in destabilising the breakaway region, where Russian troops have been based since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The leadership of the Transnistrian republic is expected to declare mobilization and join the war against Ukraine after several "explosions". This morning, the situation in the unrecognized Russian enclave in Moldova worsened and people began to leave the borders in crowds.

The Transnistrian Interior Ministry, a Russian-backed separatist territory in the former Soviet republic of Moldova, said two blasts were aimed at a radio center near the Ukrainian border.

"Early in the morning of April 26, two explosions were heard in the village of Mayak in the Grigoriopol district," a statement from the separatist republic's interior ministry said.

By establishing control over southern Ukraine, Russia will secure "another route" to Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, where Russian troops have been based since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a senior Russian military commander was quoted as saying on Friday.

The US State Department issued a warning on Monday evening for US citizens to leave or not to travel to the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria.

The State Department cited "unusual Russian troop movements around [neighbouring] Ukraine and the unresolved conflict between this breakaway region and the central government".