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Don't really see Transnistria as remotely useful as a bargaining chip. Sure it's propped up by Russia and would eventually be integrated into Russia under Putin

Don't really see Transnistria as remotely useful as a bargaining chip. Sure it's propped up by Russia and would eventually be integrated into Russia under Putin's wildest imperial fantasies, but it's not Russia, its people mostly aren't Russian and I'm not sure it's all that valuable either. All a Ukrainian invasion of Transnistria would do is give Putin's claims about Ukrainian aggression some veneer of legitimacy and annoy Moldova, which doesn't want to see something which is constitutionally part of their territory fought over and then bargained back to Russian control...

pydry 4y ago
>its people mostly aren't Russian They basically are. They speak Russian and act like Russians. I doubt they'd mind being annexed.
- RivieraKid 4y ago
  I've recently read that only about 30% identify as Russians.
  - bigdict 4y ago
    Yeah, the largest ethnic group. The largest ethnic group in California is Latinos. What's the issue?
    - RivieraKid 4y ago
      I think your assumption that people who say they're ethnically non-Russian are basically Russian and would be ok with annexation by Russia is wrong.
      - bigdict 4y ago
        What is that thought based on?
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  >They basically are. They don't have russian passorts. How can they be russians?
  - bigdict 4y ago
    > They don't have russian passorts. You clearly are not familiar with how things work in Transnistria.
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      I'm from around that region so I'm quite familiar. Just because Putin says those people are Russians so he can claim some clay, doesn't make it a fact. Sure some are ethnically Russian, but that doesn't make them Russian citizens of the Federal Russian Republic. They are Moldovan citizens. Transnistria is a rouge separatist nation that's not internationally recognized and only exists on paper because Russia is a nuclear power which has troops and weapons there and Moldova is too weak to do anything about it.
      - bigdict 4y ago
        > I'm from around that region so I'm quite familiar. Not sufficiently familiar then. "It is estimated that about 250,000 out of 500,000 people living in Transnistria hold Russian citizenship." That's as of 2020, "passportization" has continued since then. https://warsawinstitute.org/russia-hands-passports-diaspora/ https://warsawinstitute.org/russia-hands-passports-diaspora/
        mazurnification 4y ago
        But Transnistria has between 360k - 475k ppl (from Wikipedia). Plus everybody want Romanian passport (which is not that hard to get if you are Moldovan) - due to UE free movement ...
        ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        If France were to give french passports to a lot of Germans in a particular region of Germany, that region doesn't magically become a French asset/territory.

pydry 4y ago

>its people mostly aren't Russian They basically are. They speak Russian and act like Russians. I doubt they'd mind being annexed.

RivieraKid 4y ago
I've recently read that only about 30% identify as Russians.
- bigdict 4y ago
  Yeah, the largest ethnic group. The largest ethnic group in California is Latinos. What's the issue?
  - RivieraKid 4y ago
    I think your assumption that people who say they're ethnically non-Russian are basically Russian and would be ok with annexation by Russia is wrong.
    - bigdict 4y ago
      What is that thought based on?
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>They basically are. They don't have russian passorts. How can they be russians?
- bigdict 4y ago
  > They don't have russian passorts. You clearly are not familiar with how things work in Transnistria.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    I'm from around that region so I'm quite familiar. Just because Putin says those people are Russians so he can claim some clay, doesn't make it a fact. Sure some are ethnically Russian, but that doesn't make them Russian citizens of the Federal Russian Republic. They are Moldovan citizens. Transnistria is a rouge separatist nation that's not internationally recognized and only exists on paper because Russia is a nuclear power which has troops and weapons there and Moldova is too weak to do anything about it.
    - bigdict 4y ago
      > I'm from around that region so I'm quite familiar. Not sufficiently familiar then. "It is estimated that about 250,000 out of 500,000 people living in Transnistria hold Russian citizenship." That's as of 2020, "passportization" has continued since then. https://warsawinstitute.org/russia-hands-passports-diaspora/ https://warsawinstitute.org/russia-hands-passports-diaspora/
      - mazurnification 4y ago
        But Transnistria has between 360k - 475k ppl (from Wikipedia). Plus everybody want Romanian passport (which is not that hard to get if you are Moldovan) - due to UE free movement ...
      - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        If France were to give french passports to a lot of Germans in a particular region of Germany, that region doesn't magically become a French asset/territory.