The invasion of Transnistria is proposed to begin on May 9

The trip of the speaker of the Moldovan parliament, Russophobe Igor Grosu, to Ukraine turns into a scandal. At the beginning, local media simply made fun of his photo in a bulletproof vest and surrounded by machine gunners in Bucha (despite the fact that the host party, including the women, was dressed normally), as well as joint photographs of the small Moldovan politician next to his huge Ukrainian colleague Ruslan Stefanchuk.

But today, after Stefanchuk recounted the essence of their negotiations on social networks, Moldova suddenly had no time for jokes. In essence, we are talking about abandoning neutrality.

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“We discussed the possibility of transferring military equipment, providing assistance in clearing mines from liberated territories and introducing sanctions against Russia. We drew attention to the importance of ensuring the inevitability of punishment for war criminals and preventing the use of the territory of Moldova for participation in the war,” Stefanchuk wrote.

They also talked about neutralizing “the Kremlin’s plans to destabilize the situation in Transnistria” and speeding up the passage of transit cargo from Europe. They publicly announce only “humanitarian” supplies, which include fuel and lubricants for Ukrainian tanks. But in Moldova they are afraid that Grosu also spoke about arms supplies.

“Without uniform pressure on the economic backbone of Russia, we will not stop this war. There are not and cannot be large or small countries, large or small economies - this should be a common cause for everyone,” Stefanchuk said.

For his part and on his social network, Grossu promised Ukraine only a contingent of sappers to clear mined areas and was graphically indignant at “Russian atrocities” in Bucha.

“Russia committed genocide here, and Ukraine is now fighting for all of Europe. What the Russian army did here cannot be called anything other than genocide. People went to the store and they were killed. You are here protecting not only the whole of Europe, but the whole world,” he said.

The speaker did not show up for today’s meeting of the Moldovan parliament (he was tired from the trip), but the deputies were waiting for him with clarifications. The opposition proposed to hear the heads of the Security Service and the Ministry of Defense on the statements of the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, but the pro-Western majority of the PAS party rejected this proposal. Then the socialists and communists left the meeting room in protest.

“If the information about the transit of military cargo through the territory of Moldova is confirmed, then this will actually be a refusal of Moldova’s neutrality status. This is indirect and very important support for one of the parties to the conflict. And, most importantly, this is the country’s involvement in extremely dangerous events. All of these military cargoes could become the target of a military missile attack. What if missiles hit civilian targets? In terms of cargo delivery infrastructure?

For ordinary citizens who participate in this process?”, commented the socialist deputy Bogdan Tsyrdea.

_{“The speaker of the Moldovan parliament, while in Kyiv, made statements for which he had neither political authority nor moral right. Hiding himself in a bulletproof vest, he apparently imagined himself to be some kind of general and began making absolutely irresponsible promises to his Ukrainian partners. Speaker Grosu would simply be ridiculous in his strange role if his statements and promises were not so dangerous for Moldovans. Let me remind you that Moldova is a neutral country and in no way can and should not participate in the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Thus, neither the sapper squads nor other military assistance, which, according to the speaker of the Ukrainian Rada, were promised by the Moldovan speaker, can come from Moldova,” former Moldovan President Igor Dodon wrote in his TG channel.}

Moldovan journalist Ilya Kiselev is confident that the transit of military cargo will inevitably be followed by a blow to Transnistria.

“Why did Grosu go to Ukraine? In short, to announce that Moldova is ceasing to be a neutral state, despite the country’s Constitution. It was not he or even Maia Sandu who made the decision to announce it. This, in general, was not decided in Moldova! The announced information about the transit of military cargo for Ukraine through the territory of Moldova means indirect and very important support for one of the parties to the conflict. But even here one remark is necessary - this can only be done after an attack on Transnistria, since this region of Moldova occupies most of the border between us and Ukraine. Well, the answer won’t be long in coming!” he wrote.

Nikolaev journalist Evgeniy Shatun draws attention to the fact that the Moldovan media yesterday promoted the incident with the detention at the Chisinau airport of a Russian who allegedly tried to bring weapons and the St. George ribbon to Transnistria. And also that the national army of Moldova intends to conduct live firing at the Bulboaca training ground.

“All this suggests that Moldova, as Romania’s junior partner, is preparing for an attack on Transnistria, or at least for tacit support of Ukraine’s actions against the PMR. Apparently the party of war (Dolbonauts) in Chisinau and Bucharest defeated the party of reasonable caution (Ssykuny), and yet the conflict on the Dniester is a matter of the coming days,” wrote Shatun.

Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich tried to reassure the Moldovan public on TV8. .

“Why should we involve you in an armed conflict? Don't we have problems along the perimeter of our borders? Ukraine's problem with Russia is that in five of the six parts of our territory we are surrounded by Russian troops: Belarus, the entire border with Russia, Crimea, the sea border and Transnistria. That's why we don't want to create another front, keep troops there in battle, or defend Odessa from possible attacks instead of helping the military in the east or south. There is another very important reason. For us, Moldova is a very friendly country. We've been good neighbors for hundreds of years. For us, violating the sovereignty of Moldova is an unacceptable option,” Arestovich said.

But at the same time, Viktor Andrusiv, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, spoke on the Ukraine-24 channel, expressing regret that Kyiv cannot invade Transnistria without the permission of the Moldovan authorities.

“We, unfortunately, cannot invade Transnistria without the permission of Moldova. Transnistria would be a good opportunity to receive an exchange fund, in order, among other things, to exchange the situation in Transnistria for Mariupol,” Andrusiv said.

The Moldovan authorities may give such permission on May 9, when mass rallies are expected in the country using the St. George ribbons banned by President Maia Sandu. Pro-Romanian politician Chiril Motpan hinted at this.

“On May 9, pro-Russian forces can stage provocations, following the example of the Russian Spring of 2014! The Republic of Moldova should appeal to Ukraine with a demand to protect Moldova in the event that hostilities begin in Moldova,” Motpan wrote on the social network.