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It’s a Russia-backed puppet state, the same as Abkhazia (same period of time), South Ossetia (2008), or a newer DNR/LNR (2014). It’s not people that decided to

It’s a Russia-backed puppet state, the same as Abkhazia (same period of time), South Ossetia (2008), or a newer DNR/LNR (2014). It’s not people that decided to do something, it’s that big pile of shit country making life worse for them.

d_silin 6y ago
As someone who lived in proximity to this region, the issue is not exactly as black and white as you may feel.
- 1024core 6y ago
  Please enlighten us. You seem to know something about the subject; why stop at a 1-line dismissive comment?
  - rabite 6y ago
    Because slavic politics is a powder keg and you have to be extremely conservative about what you say for fear of angering somebody who might want to kill you for saying it. Most of the people in Transnistria very much value their independent status, it allows them a degree of practical freedom in commerce that they would not have otherwise. They also typically are not limited by the nation's independent status as they also nearly universally hold Ukrainian or Moldovan citizenship in addition to Transnistrian. Furthermore, the practical matter of it is that the PMR (Transnistria) military cannot hope to withstand say, a prolonged assault with the Ukrainian military. Though both Ukraine and Moldova officially declare Transnistria illegitimate and their rightful clay, extremely prominent and well connected people in both countries also greatly benefit from its existence. Lots of border and jurisdictional games to play. Nobody seriously wants it to go away.
    - chrisweekly 6y ago
      Thank you for your helpful comment; in the spirit of reciprocity, by "their rightful clay," I _think_ you meant "their rightful soil" -- in which case, FYI, "soil" in particular is occasionally used to refer to "land" as in "native soil", ie "homeland". But "clay" doesn't work there, the idiom is strictly "soil". HTH! :)
      - unmole 6y ago
        I'm pretty sure rightful clay was a polandball reference.
        chrisweekly 6y ago
        whoa; TIL
        rabite 6y ago
        You would be correct, and also clay rhymed easy with play and away and thus made the text have a nice, soft flow to it.
      - icebraining 6y ago
        rabite AKA weev is american, so that was most likely on purpose.
  - d_silin 6y ago
    Because it is a story worth a book, if all the context is to be included. I only replied to say that such conficts are almost always more complex than they seem on surface. A very abridged version is that Transnistria independence is a result of war between two factions, and neither of them hold the moral high ground. After the fall of USSR in 1991 Moldovan nationalism became stronger and pushed for pro-Moldavian and pro-Romanian views even in the regions of that were historically dominated by Russian and Ukrainian population. Local population rebelled against that, and Russian state used this conflict to their advantage using 14th army, stationed there. On a side note, Ukrainian and Russian nationalist volunteers also came to assistance of Transnistria against Moldova. Some of those people were fighting on the same side in 1992 only to be fighting against each other in 2014. And here I stop. Because this scenario (ethnic minority region in a conflict with the rest of country) has happened multiple times in the history. Rarely one side is 100% right or wrong.
themodelplumber 6y ago
In that light, it's frustrating to hear concerns about the identity of those who live there. Even in literature, where it's arguably more possible to take a hopeful position than the present circumstances, puppets must undertake a long and difficult journey in order to secure a "real" identity...
guerrilla 6y ago
It's not that simple in any of those cases (and add Crimea to your list.) Russia wouldn't be able to do what it does if there weren't severe grievances in play already.
- konjin 6y ago
  Listening to people say that those regions are only there because of Russia is like listening to Serbs complain that Kosovo and Bosnia only exist because of the US.
  - piranha 6y ago
    DNR is only there because of Russia. I have a lot of relatives in the region and visited many times. There is no other reason except for Russia pushing “different identity” topic for decades. First with propaganda and collaborationists (money), then (more recently) military. It’s not a people’s republic. I don’t know about Kosovo, but I know for sure about DNR. Transnistria is a crappy corruptionist hole for money laundering, there is nothing about people’s will there as well.
    - YarickR2 6y ago
      You as well may be one of Ukrainian propaganda workers from Odessa; there's no reason to believe you or trust your judgements
      - piranha 6y ago
        Look at my profile, lol. Also, Ukrainian propaganda does not exist. It’s more of a for-hire services that work for whomever pays more, not for the state itself. It’s one of the reasons why shit like that happens, since there is no state-backed push against Russian agenda.
        petre 6y ago
        That was pretty much my impression after reading one of Andey Kurkov's books.

d_silin 6y ago

As someone who lived in proximity to this region, the issue is not exactly as black and white as you may feel.

1024core 6y ago
Please enlighten us. You seem to know something about the subject; why stop at a 1-line dismissive comment?
- rabite 6y ago
  Because slavic politics is a powder keg and you have to be extremely conservative about what you say for fear of angering somebody who might want to kill you for saying it. Most of the people in Transnistria very much value their independent status, it allows them a degree of practical freedom in commerce that they would not have otherwise. They also typically are not limited by the nation's independent status as they also nearly universally hold Ukrainian or Moldovan citizenship in addition to Transnistrian. Furthermore, the practical matter of it is that the PMR (Transnistria) military cannot hope to withstand say, a prolonged assault with the Ukrainian military. Though both Ukraine and Moldova officially declare Transnistria illegitimate and their rightful clay, extremely prominent and well connected people in both countries also greatly benefit from its existence. Lots of border and jurisdictional games to play. Nobody seriously wants it to go away.
  - chrisweekly 6y ago
    Thank you for your helpful comment; in the spirit of reciprocity, by "their rightful clay," I _think_ you meant "their rightful soil" -- in which case, FYI, "soil" in particular is occasionally used to refer to "land" as in "native soil", ie "homeland". But "clay" doesn't work there, the idiom is strictly "soil". HTH! :)
    - unmole 6y ago
      I'm pretty sure rightful clay was a polandball reference.
      - chrisweekly 6y ago
        whoa; TIL
      - rabite 6y ago
        You would be correct, and also clay rhymed easy with play and away and thus made the text have a nice, soft flow to it.
    - icebraining 6y ago
      rabite AKA weev is american, so that was most likely on purpose.
- d_silin 6y ago
  Because it is a story worth a book, if all the context is to be included. I only replied to say that such conficts are almost always more complex than they seem on surface. A very abridged version is that Transnistria independence is a result of war between two factions, and neither of them hold the moral high ground. After the fall of USSR in 1991 Moldovan nationalism became stronger and pushed for pro-Moldavian and pro-Romanian views even in the regions of that were historically dominated by Russian and Ukrainian population. Local population rebelled against that, and Russian state used this conflict to their advantage using 14th army, stationed there. On a side note, Ukrainian and Russian nationalist volunteers also came to assistance of Transnistria against Moldova. Some of those people were fighting on the same side in 1992 only to be fighting against each other in 2014. And here I stop. Because this scenario (ethnic minority region in a conflict with the rest of country) has happened multiple times in the history. Rarely one side is 100% right or wrong.

themodelplumber 6y ago

In that light, it's frustrating to hear concerns about the identity of those who live there. Even in literature, where it's arguably more possible to take a hopeful position than the present circumstances, puppets must undertake a long and difficult journey in order to secure a "real" identity...

guerrilla 6y ago

It's not that simple in any of those cases (and add Crimea to your list.) Russia wouldn't be able to do what it does if there weren't severe grievances in play already.

konjin 6y ago
Listening to people say that those regions are only there because of Russia is like listening to Serbs complain that Kosovo and Bosnia only exist because of the US.
- piranha 6y ago
  DNR is only there because of Russia. I have a lot of relatives in the region and visited many times. There is no other reason except for Russia pushing “different identity” topic for decades. First with propaganda and collaborationists (money), then (more recently) military. It’s not a people’s republic. I don’t know about Kosovo, but I know for sure about DNR. Transnistria is a crappy corruptionist hole for money laundering, there is nothing about people’s will there as well.
  - YarickR2 6y ago
    You as well may be one of Ukrainian propaganda workers from Odessa; there's no reason to believe you or trust your judgements
    - piranha 6y ago
      Look at my profile, lol. Also, Ukrainian propaganda does not exist. It’s more of a for-hire services that work for whomever pays more, not for the state itself. It’s one of the reasons why shit like that happens, since there is no state-backed push against Russian agenda.
      - petre 6y ago
        That was pretty much my impression after reading one of Andey Kurkov's books.