https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mol...ar-AAUzRRx

"...Concerns were amplified Tuesday when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Putin who has allowed Russian troops to penetrate Ukraine from his territory, displayed a virtual map showing what appeared to be a Russian invasion of Moldova during a Security Council meeting.

Caras told Newsweek that after Belarus' ambassador to Moldova was summoned to the Moldavian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration for clarification, the Belarusian side explained that "this was a mistake on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus."

But this has done little to assuage fears in Moldova that Ukraine's conflict may expand.

"It's not the best feeling you have, definitely, to see such a picture and video," Caras said...."

They should be.

(03-04-2022 07:35 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  They should be.

I agree

Might as well grab it while you're there

U.S. Worried Putin May Move on Moldova
March 14, 2022 at 6:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

New York Times: “In private, officials express concern that Mr. Putin might seek to take Moldova, another former Soviet republic that has never joined NATO and is considered particularly vulnerable. There is renewed apprehension about Georgia, which fought a war with Russia in 2008 that today seems like a test run for the far larger conflict playing out.”

“And there is the possibility that Mr. Putin, angered by the slowness of his offensive in Ukraine, may reach for other weapons: chemical, biological, nuclear and cyber.”

https://politicalwire.com/2022/03/14/u-s...n-moldova/

Eh, right now they're struggling to take Ukraine.

Suspicious explosions in Transnistria -

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/a...ansnistria

(03-14-2022 10:14 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Eh, right now they're struggling to take Ukraine.

Moldova isnt Ukraine. They are officially neutral with no real armed forces to speak of. They have less than 10K troops, a few APC's, no tanks at all, and basically no air force beyond a few choppers.

(04-26-2022 11:30 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-14-2022 10:14 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Eh, right now they're struggling to take Ukraine.

Moldova isnt Ukraine. They are officially neutral with no real armed forces to speak of. They have less than 10K troops, a few APC's, no tanks at all, and basically no air force beyond a few choppers.

Yeah, but lets not forget the entire world expected Ukraine to crumble in a matter of days. Ukraine wasnt even "Ukraine" until it fought back and made things very difficult for Russia.

Moldovans might like seeing some tanks or something roll through. There is nothing else going on there. The Soviets ****** them so bad it's like a zombie country.

(04-26-2022 01:48 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(04-26-2022 11:30 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-14-2022 10:14 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Eh, right now they're struggling to take Ukraine.

Moldova isnt Ukraine. They are officially neutral with no real armed forces to speak of. They have less than 10K troops, a few APC's, no tanks at all, and basically no air force beyond a few choppers.

Yeah, but lets not forget the entire world expected Ukraine to crumble in a matter of days. Ukraine wasnt even "Ukraine" until it fought back and made things very difficult for Russia.

Ehh---the Ukrainians were soundly routed in 2014 when regular Russian forces invaded the Donbas region. Since then, Ukraine has been working to retool its army into an effective fighting force. They had purchased Javalins, upgraded many of their old Soviet era tanks to more modern standards (upgraded reactive armor, upgraded targeting abilities, etc), developed domestically produced anti-ship missiles, mass produced a pretty decent domestically designed anti-tank missile, began purchasing Turkish drones once they were proven useful in Syria, and extensively trained with NATO to teach their Army to fight using smaller unit NATO tactics rather than old cold war Soviet tactics which were designed around having a huge numerical advantage in tanks and artillery. It was considered likely Ukraine's forces would perform better than they did in 2014---but the Ukrainians have exceeded all expectations. That said---to an extent---your correct in that part of that Ukrainian Army "over performance" is due to the Russians not being quite the conventional force we thought they were. About all the Russians can do is level towns with a hail of barely aimed artillery---they dont seem to have the integrated precision ability to capture key objectives in working order if they are at all defended.

Moldova or Transnistria? 2 different countries. I suspect most of the Moldova talk is about the latter instead. Typical intentional misdirect.

(04-26-2022 05:53 PM)Todor Wrote:  Moldova or Transnistria? 2 different countries. I suspect most of the Moldova talk is about the latter instead. Typical intentional misdirect.

No they arent different countries. An absolutely excellent example of pure propaganda by the Russians. Outside of a small cabal of old incestuous Soviet KGB zealots---there is no such thing as Transnistria. The echo chamber that group of KGB true believers still lives within is the most dangerous threat to the world since Hitler---and for some reason----it seems to be the only pool the Russian population is allowed to draw their leadership from (whether they like it or not---which I suspect they do not).

(04-26-2022 06:16 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(04-26-2022 05:53 PM)Todor Wrote:  Moldova or Transnistria? 2 different countries. I suspect most of the Moldova talk is about the latter instead. Typical intentional misdirect.

No they arent different countries. An absolutely excellent example of pure propaganda by the Russians. Outside of a small cabal of old incestuous Soviet KGB zealots---there is no such thing as Transnistria. The echo chamber that group of KGB true believers still lives within in the most dangerous threat to the world since Hitler---and for some reason----it seems to be the only pool the Russian population is allowed to draw their leadership from (whether they like it or not---which I suspect they do not).

Even the Russians don't consider Transnistria a country!!!
Nobody in the world recognizes them as a country.

Transnistria declared their independence over 30 years ago. Whether anyone likes that fact or not isn’t relevant to the fact that they consider themselves independent of Moldova and act according.

Russia has shown great restraint in not recognizing them officially because that could increase the conflict and lead to a hot war.

(04-26-2022 05:53 PM)Todor Wrote:  Moldova or Transnistria? 2 different countries. I suspect most of the Moldova talk is about the latter instead. Typical intentional misdirect.

Read your own post. Total nonsense again. Not even their patron Russia considers them a separate country.

(03-04-2022 07:35 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  They should be.

They really don’t need to be. Moldova has neutrality enshrined in their constitution and do not seek to join NATO, so are not acting aggressively towards Russia.

They are, in part, the model Ukraine previously agreed to be before the coup in 2014 wrecked that plan.

Willfully ignorant is no way to go through life, Theodore.

(04-26-2022 01:48 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(04-26-2022 11:30 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-14-2022 10:14 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Eh, right now they're struggling to take Ukraine.

Moldova isnt Ukraine. They are officially neutral with no real armed forces to speak of. They have less than 10K troops, a few APC's, no tanks at all, and basically no air force beyond a few choppers.

Yeah, but lets not forget the entire world expected Ukraine to crumble in a matter of days. Ukraine wasnt even "Ukraine" until it fought back and made things very difficult for Russia.

Ukraine's military is at least 10 times bigger than Moldova's.

Ukraine also is historically a nation of fighters. Many of the largest groups of Cossacks were/are Ukrainians. While most modern Ukrainians are not Cossacks, Cossacks play an outsized role in the Ukrainian history, culture, and self-image (in a similar way as Pilgrims in the USA or samurai in Japan).

Whether an actual military attack occurs or not, Europe's poorest country faces challenges from both incoming refugees and ongoing emigration -

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/m...ova-exodus

(04-26-2022 10:00 PM)Todor Wrote:  

(03-04-2022 07:35 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  They should be.

They really don’t need to be. Moldova has neutrality enshrined in their constitution and do not seek to join NATO, so are not acting aggressively towards Russia.

They are, in part, the model Ukraine previously agreed to be before the coup in 2014 wrecked that plan.

What coup? You mean the popular uprising who's popular legitimacy was later confirmed by multiple free elections that have ALL been landslide victories for the pro-western government candidates? The people of Ukraine have spoken and they dont want to be a Russian puppet.

That should have been obvious, but in typical top down dictatorship fashion----Putin believed his own propaganda and attacked Ukraine in the belief the Ukrainian pro-west government would be overthrown by a population that was really "pro-Russian". That clearly is NOT the way this has played out. If Tudor and Putin were correct, then this war would have been over days after it began when the "true pro-Russian populace" ladi down their arms and welcomed the "liberating" Russian Army. What we now know is that the people of Ukraine would prefer to be ruled in a pro-western manner and are willing to die in large numbers to defend that preference. The big Russian propaganda lie that 2014 represented some sort of "coup" by a small Ukrainian minority has been exposed as the lie it is. There is no room for doubt any longer---the Ukrainian's selected the government they wanted in 2014 and they clearly prefer to be a pro-western nation allied with the EU and NATO if possible. The Russian propaganda narrative about 2014 was FALSE (as usual).