Transdniestria-a litmus test of Russian colonial expansionism
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), otherwise known as Transdniestria (TD) is a breakaway region of Moldova, just to the north and west of the Black Sea port city Odessa in the Ukraine. In Moldova, with only 5.8 percent ethnic Russians, this sliver of land from the Dniester River, encroaching on the city of Bender on the other side of the Dniestria, has a majority of its population ethnic Russians. Bender was part of the former Bessarabia Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union (USSR). They have come into the news following the absorption of Crimea into Russia as they’ve asked for a similar status. Russia, acquiescing to TD’s vociferous requests to join it, will likely be kept as a bargaining chip only. Such a move would signal the most extreme of colonial expansionist intentions and surely would lead to some sort of military confrontation, which I doubt Russia wants. Moldova itself, was a Socialist Republic in the USSR and has been part of Romania in the past. Today, there is a...
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