Part of the Moldovan border region is controlled by a pro-Russian administration in what is called Transnistria. Unexplained explosions there earlier this week prompted Ukrainian officials to claim that Russia’s security services were plotting in Transnistria as a pretext to open a new front in the war. Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Ukrainian television on Wednesday: “We have always considered Transnistria as a springboard from which there may be some dangers for us. [the] Regions of Odessa and Vinicia “. There is a specific one [military] “from the Russians, it is somewhere between 1,500-2,000 people, of whom only 500-600 are Russians,” Pontoliak said. However, he said most people in Transnistria were integrated into Moldova and Europe. “Therefore, for Transnistria, active involvement in the conflict in Ukraine will mean virtually complete isolation and destruction of the enclave,” Podoliak said. Podoliak claimed that through this week’s episodes in Transnistria, Russia was trying to provoke Ukraine. Roman Kostenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from Odessa, said Transnistria was not a strategic threat to Ukraine. “It could be a regular threat, in some direction, in order to engage our troops,” the official said. Kostenko said the Russians viewed Transnistria as “another front that could support them directly when they attack, for example, Mykolayev, Odessa from the sea, because Mykolayev is blocking the land corridor.” Ukrainian defenses around the city of Mykolaiv prevented Russian forces from reaching Odessa by land. The far southwest corner of Ukraine is now cut off from the rest of the country after a road and rail bridge over the Dniester estuary was hit by a second cruise missile on Wednesday, after being hit first on Tuesday. Russia has not said it carried out the missile attack. The Southern Military Command of Ukraine claimed that Russian submarines continued to threaten with missiles from the Black Sea. “Enemy forces are also preparing missile provocations in Transnistria to accuse Ukraine of attacking the unrecognized democracy,” he said.
