Terrorist state is creating a tense situation around Moldova and unrecognized Transnistria, pursuing two goals: to divert international attention from the war in Ukraine and to demonstrate some kind of ‘victory’ for the russian audiences.

This was stated by Andrii Cherniak, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in a comment to RBK-Ukraine.

“In Transnistria, the russians have a very limited contingent. There are depots that they guard there. But there’s almost nothing left in those depots, and whatever is still kept there is old and unusable. And in Moldova, they are still trying politically to destabilize the situation in a ‘false flag’ operation," Cherniak noted.

The representative of the Ukraine’s military intelligence recalled that under a similar scenario, the russians once intervened in Donetsk and Luhansk.

"By creating tension in Moldova, russia sets two goals. The first is an effort to distract the European public from the events taking place in Ukraine. They see that all attention is focused on Ukraine, including in the sense of providing aid. Therefore, they are trying to ignite a new fire in Europe," Andrii Cherniak explained.

Secondly, according to him, "this is aimed at russia’s domestic audience."

"After all, they have achieved no gains in their so-called ‘special military operation.’ So, they need to show some kind of ‘victory’ to their population. Now they are trying to incite a sort of revolution to create the illusion that ‘the world supports them,’ and that the ‘people of Moldova are for us’,” Andrii Cherniak concluded.