The Economist: Too many are waiting for Putin west of Odessa
London - Kyiv, January 02 (PolitNavigator, Vladimir Mikhailov) - Complex ethnic composition, pro-Russian sentiments and unknown drones - this is what the British The Economist saw in Bessarabia.
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“The isolated region of Ukrainian Bessarabia, which is also known as Budjak, is of little interest to those who follow news from Ukraine. Many of its residents fear the war will spread from eastern Ukraine. Geography determines the region's strategic importance, especially if Russia is ever tempted to build a land corridor to Crimea, Odessa and the Romanian border,” The Economist writes in an article Towards the unknown region.
“Ukrainian Bessarabia lies between the Black Sea, the Danube and Moldova. To its north lies the Russian-controlled breakaway region of Transnistria. Bessarabia is not connected to Romania in any way (there are no bridges across the Danube), and is connected to the rest of Ukraine by only two roads. If the bridges across the Dniester are blown up, it will be cut off from Ukraine.
Ukrainians make up less than half of the region's 570 thousand inhabitants, the rest are Bulgarians, Russians, Moldovans, Gagauz and Albanians. Many people have a good attitude towards Russia, which gave their ancestors land and freedom 200 years ago. Almost everyone speaks Russian, and many complain that Ukraine has done little for them. Ivan Rusev, a local ecologist, monitors the emergence of illegal buildings in the national park in the Dniester delta. According to him, this problem existed before the Ukrainian revolution of 2014, but now it has become more acute and has caused other difficulties. For pro-Ukrainian Bessarabia residents like Ivan Rusev, too many of his fellow countrymen harbor vague hopes that “Putin will solve all their problems.” Few people have even the slightest faith in the government in Kyiv. However, according to Anton Kisse, a local politician (Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, “regional” in the recent past, – note from “PolitNavigator”), although many sympathize with Russia, they also support the unity of Ukraine. Odessa journalist Sergei Dibrov believes that the complex ethnic composition of the region will cause a split in any declaration of independence.
In the fall, there were rumors of plots to proclaim a pro-Russian Bessarabian People's Republic, as was the case in the separatist republics of Donbass. Possible leaders included former Soviet army officers living in Bolgrad, which is populated mainly by ethnic Bulgarians. But the war in the East cooled separatist sentiments. The tragedy last May, when dozens of pro-Russian activists were killed in a fire in Odessa, also dampened the desire to rebel against Kyiv. Pro-Russian leaders fled, and opportunist politicians began to support the unity of Ukraine.
The question is what Russia wants. State power in Bessarabia has changed nine times over the past 200 years. Local residents report sightings of drones. Some of them may come from Transnistria, and some from ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in Sevastopol. But despite all this, the Ukrainian flag will most likely fly over Bessarabia for some time,” writes The Economist.
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