Transnistria. Russian threat in South
Yurii Butusov, Editor-in-Chief of Censor.NET, shared his vision of the Russian threat to Ukraine from Transnistria and described the ways in which he believes this problem can be resolved.
The stream is dedicated to one small but very painful problem of our national security - the worsening situation in Transnistria. As you know, Transnistria is a territory of Moldova temporarily occupied by Russia right on the border with Ukraine. This is an enclave where Russian military bases, Russian military personnel, Russian special services, intelligence centers are located, which are actively fighting against Ukraine, and where a large number of Russian officials and Russian military are also located. And this cancer – this is the map of this Transnistria – this cancer between Moldova and Ukraine.
TRANSNISTRIA = PROVOCATION
It's just an enclave for all the crime and all the illegal things that exist. All smuggling, drugs, arms trafficking - everything is there. It is an illegal territory, unrecognized by anyone, and Russia uses it to destabilize and subvert Ukraine and Moldova. There are three Russian motorized rifle brigades on the territory of Transnistria, on this thin line. This is a very thin border that Russia once drew between Ukraine and Moldova in order to influence both Ukraine and Moldova. Now there are significant stocks of weapons concentrated there. That is, in fact, Russia is threatening with this, conducting subversive activities, terrorist activities, and intelligence activities against Ukraine. Ukraine and Moldova have been hostages to this situation for many years.
Why are we talking about this? Because just two days ago, these self-proclaimed Russian officials said that they were not going to live there in peace and they demanded that Russia protect them in the face of increasing pressure from the Republic of Moldova. According to the statement, more than 220,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistria. Russia is allegedly a guarantor, peace mediator, and peacekeeping mission in the negotiation process.
It's just an audacious challenge. That is, the gang that is there under the Russian flag with Russian passports, and the Russian military, the FSB, who are nesting there, they are basically threatening Moldova that Russia should protect them there. We know how Russia can protect someone, how it can bring peace. Only by killing everyone around. Yes, Transnistria is formally on the territory of Moldova, but it is a big threat to us. Moldova does not control this territory and does not have the power to restore order there. Throughout the war, Ukraine has been forced to keep significant troops on the border because there are constant provocations from Transnistria. The mere presence of three Russian brigades is a provocation. That is why this statement by the self-proclaimed Transnistrian administration, which is no different from the DPR-LPR, is a challenge. A challenge to Moldova, but also a challenge to Ukraine. Let's look at Russian activity. They constantly demonstrate it in their parades. Russia has concentrated weapons there, and is sending troops, additional forces, and spare parts through the territory of Moldova.
They have a parade like this. This is such museum equipment. And this is the equipment that they still support. That is, they supply these armoured vehicles through the territory of Moldova with spare parts, fuel, everything. And they have tanks here. This is a parade in Transnistria, in Tiraspol.
And we see tanks there, and they are financing the troops, that is, a significant amount of military equipment that is quite capable. 199-mm Rapier guns, Grad multiple rocket launchers. All this is provided with ammunition. 32 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and such large forces are maintained in combat readiness. Against whom? Moldova does not have any Armed Forces and the ability to do anything there, to compare with the force that the Russians have concentrated in Transnistria.
TRANSNISTRIA IS A THREAT TO UKRAINE
Apart from Ukraine, it turns out that, in principle, no one can restore order there. And for us, this is now a question – I've just said it many times, but the elimination of the cancerous tumor in Transnistria, these Russian military bases, is a very important issue for our national security. At the same time, Russia dictates to us, attacks us wherever it wants. It attacks us from the territory of Belarus. So far, there has been no attack from the territory of Transnistria. But it is a matter of time. We know that the Russian command has openly declared that its strategic goal is to break through the corridor to Transnistria and cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea. And as long as Transnistria is there, Russia will try to break through this corridor. Just as they have already broken through a corridor to Crimea from mainland Russia. So now this is the next target of the Russian aggressors. I would like to emphasize a very important aspect. There are 220 thousand Russian citizens on the territory of Transnistria. The number of people in the 3 motorized rifle brigades of Russia, the Russian special services, the so-called Russian police, and all the security forces that Russia has created there is up to 30,000. That is, most of the active population are people who serve in Russian security forces to create a threat and the right moment to attack Ukraine from Bessarabia, in the South. I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that if the Russian troops had not been defeated near Mykolaiv and were able to continue their offensive, these Russian brigades in Transnistria would have stabbed us in the back. We have to keep our forces there. Russia beats, kills Ukrainians, strikes wherever it wants. And Ukraine does not touch Transnistria and ties its own hands. Russia is advancing. We cannot transfer reserves from the Odesa region because we have to watch Russian gangs in Transnistria. Why are we doing this? This is a big problem for us.
EXCHANGE FUND
I want to say that Transnistria is not just 30,000 Russian security forces. It is a 40 thousand potential exchange fund. You and I understand that Russia will not be able to put up any active resistance there. Transnistria has been cut off from supplies by both Moldova and Ukraine. Russian aviation will not be able to fly there, to land anything - transport planes will be shot down. They cannot supply anything directly by sea. They have no landing ships or helicopter carriers there. They will not be able to sail closer. Therefore, the issue of destroying the military force of Transnistria is an issue that can be resolved in a way that is not rushed, without any casualties, and quite quickly. Simply by striking at military facilities, at the enemy's manpower in the first place. We need to strike at the enemy's military equipment so that they simply surrender. We really need these Russian security forces as an exchange fund. This exchange fund is sitting there, and while the enemy is taking prisoners, capturing anyone in the occupied territories and Ukrainian prisoners of war, we cannot exchange them because we lack an exchange fund. Here is the exchange fund. There are 3 times more Russian security forces in Transnistria than Ukrainian prisoners in Russia. They can be exchanged at a great rate. That is why Transnistria is now an opportunity for Ukraine. First, to free up troops in the southern direction. Secondly, to get rid of smugglers, saboteurs and Russian special services that constantly monitor the Odesa region and guided missiles and Shaheds at the Odesa region. And the intelligence comes from intelligence centers in Transnistria. They conduct electronic intelligence and agent reconnaissance there. Still, we could not completely close the border with any wall. There are Russian troops there. The same Russian troops as those who are killing Ukrainians in Donbas. They perform the same tasks. They are temporarily just on the defense. There is an exchange fund. Well, I don't know, it's an absolutely legitimate military objective from the point of view of strategy in general. Everything is clear there, and this Russian military force must be destroyed. There is no need to engage in any long battles. We just need to strike at them and destroy them. Of course, this is a very important issue for Ukraine's national security.
Such a provocative statement by Transnistrian leaders shows that Russia will continue to put pressure. For us, the situation is politically justified. Europe will be sympathetic to the fact that Ukraine, which is simply spending its last strength at the front in Donbas, is forced to keep reserves in the rear to control the Russian army in Transnistria. And we should also note the economic background. Why, for example, is there so much dissatisfaction with the Russian occupiers in Transnistria? Because the European Union has obliged Moldova to remove all tax exemptions for Transnistria as of January 1, 2024. Transnistria has lived and thrived thanks to these tax exemptions. Moldova was weak. It is influenced by Russia both from within and without. It cannot resist Russian expansion at all. It is being undermined from within. It is being undermined by the presence of Transnistria. The border is open: all the business, all the money that Russians earn in Transnistria, they legalize through Moldova. They enter and leave Europe through Moldova. In principle, there are no restrictions on rights. By the way, the author and developer of these absolutely unlimited rights of Transnistria, the Russian occupation zone, was Dmitry Kozak, the current deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. I would like to remind you that since 2020, Dmitry Kozak has been the official negotiator for Russia, the curator of relations between Russia and Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, President Zelensky nominated his head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak, to be the curator.
I have written many times that the Transnistrian option for Ukraine is what the Kremlin wants to do now. It wants to do it before a full-scale invasion. And in Moldova, in Transnistria, this Transnistrian option is working. Now Moldova is forced by pressure from the European Union to limit it, to deprive it of benefits. And we see such a political demarche. They are threatening. By the way, Transnistria has repeatedly threatened Moldova. In 2013, the military, the occupation authorities of Transnistria demanded that Moldova's borders be pushed back, and made territorial claims to Moldova, on whose territory they are located. I wrote about subversive activities in Transnistria back in the times of Yanukovych. In 2017, I even summarized everything I had written
UKRAINIAN RECONNAISSANCE SPECIAL OPERATION IN 2010
I would like to remind you that on 26 January 2010, the Ukrainian Security Service, the counter-intelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine, captured six officers of the Russian FSB, and this was also under President Viktor Yushchenko. I wrote about this under Yanukovych as well.
Here is a photo of the facility.
The story was as follows. I have a detailed article with photos, illustrations, and the names of the captured Russians. So, in 2009, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine conducted an intelligence operation in Moldova on the territory of occupied Transnistria to monitor Russian military activity. During this operation, Ruslan Pylypenko, an employee of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, was captured by Russian special services. He was released to Ukraine only on the condition that he would cooperate and work for the Kremlin. Fortunately, upon his return to Ukraine, Pylypenko immediately informed his superiors, the DIU contacted the SSU, and an operation was conducted to bring the entire leadership of the FSB's counterintelligence department in Transnistria to the territory of Ukraine. It was Russian military counterintelligence. And to meet with Pylypenko, who agreed to cooperate and hand over all the secrets of Ukraine, six FSB officers went at once, headed by FSB Colonel Noskov, the head of the department. On January 27, they arrived on the territory of Ukraine. There was an observation group there. Noskov communicated directly with Pylypenko. It was in the city of Rozdilna on Pryvokzalna Square in the Odesa region. And it was there that the detention took place. The entire group of Russians, all their surveillance, counter-surveillance, everything they had set up there, were detained. This was the first detention of Russian agents and agents from Transnistria in the history of Ukraine.
These are documents of Russian officers.
A high-profile diplomatic and political scandal arose. But for a long time, Russia did not try to take them back immediately. There was great indignation. But then the pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election in Ukraine. And immediately after Yanukovych's victory, Yanukovych and the head of the Security Service, Valerii Khoroshkovskyi, immediately released all the detained Russians, who had committed a serious crime. Thus, the first success of the Ukrainian special services in countering Russia, the first real detention of active Russian officers, was the detention of those from Transnistria. Because Transnistria has been actively used all these years for infiltration into Ukraine, subversive, reconnaissance, sabotage activities.
That is why the elimination of Transnistrian cancer is a big priority for us if we really want to fulfill our goals in the war. Now Russia is putting pressure on us and trying to continue the offensive so that Ukraine agrees... They want to consolidate a certain front line, to push it a little further. To capture Donbas, to capture the Kharkiv region, and then to dictate the terms of peace to Ukraine. They will stop not only there. If they are not stopped by force on the frontline now, the Russian army will go there until they are stopped, which is absolutely obvious. So now we have a situation where the Russians are moving forward and we still have the unresolved problem of Transnistria. In any case, this problem can only be solved now, during the war. In any scenario, Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive there, we don't know when, not soon, obviously, because we need a superiority in weapons and munitions for this. So far, our partners cannot provide us with this, and we are not producing them in quantities comparable to Russia. So we need to solve the problem of Transnistria, otherwise it will be a permanent dagger that is simply stabbed in Ukraine's back, which Russia will use to break through to Tiraspol.
In order not to repeat this stupid situation, which is harmful to us, when Chonhar was opened for unknown reasons, the enemy drove to Mariupol and practically opened a corridor to Russia's continent without a fight. Of course, we need to do something about Transnistria. We need to eliminate this criminal enclave. There are no other options. The Russian army threatens Ukraine from there. The Russian army needs to be cleaned up here.
It is not about us occupying it. This is a problem for the Moldovan authorities. But the continued presence of the special services and the Russian army, three Russian brigades there, is unacceptable. All the weapons that will survive, the ammunition, which is a lot of ammunition, - all this is needed by Ukraine in the war against Russia. And we need an exchange fund to replenish prisoners.
This is what I wanted to say. This is the main topic.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
Why doesn't the DIU conduct sabotage on the territory of Transnistria?
Obviously, there is no political decision in Ukraine on what to do with this enclave. We have tried, we know that there were incidents in Transnistria in 2022. But this does not mean that it was a serious undermining of combat capability. In 2022, there was a lack of forces there. Now the Ukrainian defense forces have a great technological advantage over the Russian occupation army in Transnistria. And this technological advantage, the advantage in drones, in precision weapons, can be used. I think that it would be quite logical that as soon as Western aid and financing of weapons is opened to us now, and I am sure that the US will unblock this aid this year, as soon as we receive additional weapons, ammunition and finance, we need to really strike and eliminate this enclave in Transnistria. Because this is a guarantee of security and strengthening of security on our southern borders. We will be able to free up a large number of forces, redirect them away from Transnistria, and leave only border guards there. And the level of security on the border will improve significantly, and the level of economic relations with Moldova will increase. There will be additional corridors to allow people to travel to Moldova. This brings us exclusively political and security benefits. And at the moment when, if such an operation starts, the whole world will support us and understand us, because everyone already knows what Russia is like in such enclaves. It's just a pretext for a new war - a war in Moldova, in the rear of Ukraine. So I hope that these will not be just sabotage by the DIU. Of course, all sorts of partisans may appear there. Moldovan ones, first of all. By the way, I know that Moldovan volunteers are also fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They are gaining modern experience. These people could be the backbone of such resistance and liberation of these Russian-occupied territories.
Ours are afraid that the West will be unhappy with such actions in Moldova, so ours will not do it, won't we?
I was just talking about this: in 2022, you could still be afraid that the West was saying, "No escalation, be careful. And now it's already World War III. Russia is supporting the war with weapons around the world, including against the West, against Europe, against the United States. Everyone understands that Ukraine has to solve its security problems. Now we clearly understand that there is no stop - Europe will not stop Russia anywhere. It will not stop it even in Transnistria. Therefore, I see no obstacles now, and in 2022, to be honest, it had to be done. Now we can do it with minimal losses, or perhaps even no losses at all. We can simply destroy terrorist bases, weapons, barracks where personnel are concentrated with precision weapons, drone strikes. I am confident that this will contribute to a very quick end to the resistance of the Russian occupiers. Of course, everything must be planned wisely. To be honest, I am not in favor of human sabotage. Transnistria is a territory favorable for attacks with all types of weapons. You can destroy everything there with precision fire from drones. And there is no need to put anyone at risk.
Maybe they are deliberately provoking us to put our troops off to Odesa, aren't they?
They are constantly doing this, signaling a threat, and that is why our troops must be deployed in Bessarabia because we cannot leave our borders uncovered.
What do you know about the 73rd SOF Centre?
Some information is known, but I am asked not to voice it for some time. As we know, one of the soldiers of the 73rd Special Operations Forces Center was captured. He has already told us about this operation in his own words, told us what he could say in captivity, what was demanded of him in captivity. There is already information about some of the dead. Of course, this data will take some time to analyze in full. In the near future, I promise you, I will tell you in more detail what kind of operation it was with reference to specific sources.
Is it possible to clean up the enclave without Moldova's approval, isn`t it?
To clear up Transnistria without Moldova's approval is the only possible option. I want to remind you that Moldova is not a fully independent state. It cannot go it alone, it does not have the military forces to oppose even the Russian army in Transnistria. Moldova is very dependent on Russian finance, gas, Russian businesses, and markets. Moldova is dependent because Russia has created a powerful pro-Russian party using Transnistria as a base, finances political subversive actions, and influences the situation in Moldova from within. Therefore, as long as there is Transnistria and free border crossing from Transnistria to Moldova, there will never be stability there. Moldova will never become independent as long as there is Transnistria. Therefore, we must be realistic. Moldova is not going to give us any permits. And we understand, we see the statements of Moldovan officials now - they are just all desperate. They were very critical of the statement of the Russian occupation authorities in Transnistria. There is no doubt that Moldova will not protest or resist. I think that both Europe and Moldova will accept the status quo in all the interests, first of all, of Moldova, so that the occupation authorities and occupation troops are completely purged from Transnistria.
Why has the problem of the PMR not been resolved since 1992?
In fact, since 1992, Russia has been actively influencing and creating zones of influence in all post-Soviet countries, creating military bases and pro-Russian parties to use the countries surrounding it as markets, as suppliers of human resources to Russia, labor resources, as military bases to influence, and of course, deploying political parties in all countries. Let us recall what powerful parties Moscow financed in Ukraine until recently. And it still does. The OPFL is sitting quietly in our parliament. The authorities do nothing to them. No one is sitting there except Shufrych. There are similar parties in Moldova. This is the Transnistrian scenario, which Moldova actually recognized under pressure from Russia. In Ukraine. There were pro-Russian parties everywhere, so this issue was not resolved.
Do they have air defense systems?
Yes, they do have some air defense systems, but a very limited number. And in principle, the destruction of these systems is not a problem, because any air defense system emits active radio radiation and takes a DF bearing. And you saw how narrow the line of Transnistria is. There is no place to maneuver air defense systems there. There is no place to maneuver with any firepower at all. The enemy is actually trapped in a narrow strip. His maneuver is limited and the destruction of his control points and air defense systems is not, in principle, an insoluble task. This is all solvable and fairly quickly because the Russians have nowhere to be put off to. They have to accept the fight where they are. This creates good opportunities, restrictions of maneuver, for their quick elimination with all their means.
What legislative documents can be provided to Ukrainian troops to solve the Transnistrian problem?
Martial law in Ukraine. The war. The attack of the Russian Federation. And here we have the Russian army advancing, including from the territory of Belarus, and here, from the territory of Moldova, it can also attack directly. And so, in fact, it conducts intelligence and intelligence centers are operating against Ukraine. They have been operating for many years. There is a war going on and the enemy must be destroyed. In addition, we see that all of them are Russian citizens, which means that this is a de facto part of the Russian Federation. Therefore, this cancer must be cut off.
Will the change of logistics commander make a difference?
I don't know if this will change anything. We have a lot of leadership changes, and then you look at the result, and it either doesn't change or gets worse. We don't know how Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi will manage the logistics forces, whether he will be independent, because in principle this position and the logistics forces were directly connected to the President's Office, and Zaluzhnyi's influence there was not 100%. So we don't know. Let's see how the situation develops, whether Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new Commander-in-Chief, will be able to concentrate all the levers of control of the Armed Forces in his hands.
How many PMR military forces are in Transnistria?
PMR is a Russian name. That is, in Transnistria, the Russian occupiers, what is officially known there, all the security forces that can be found, I think, are up to 30 thousand. Maybe less. This is even together with their reserve. The combat strength of 3 brigades is no more than 6 thousand soldiers. In total, there are up to 30,000 people who are part of various structures of the Russian administration, the Russian government, and can be mobilized for a short period of time, if Russia is capable of carrying out any organized actions at all. By itself, such a narrow line does not allow the Russians to have any kind of long-term defense. They have nowhere to retreat. Moldova is behind them. They can only surrender.
You frequently visit the frontline. Have the defense lines been built at the right pace? Why does the President say that we should learn from the Kupiansk direction? Is it better built there? Is it true that in many places near Avdiivka, there is plywood where there should be concrete?
First, on the largest section of the front, the defense line was not built at all. In some places, they have started, but slowly. Why is this so? So far, several existing units of the State Special Transport Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine have been involved in the construction of these defenses, which have engineering equipment, some construction vehicles, and some construction machinery that can do something. Like Russia, we do not bring together large construction organizations, both public and private. In Russia, a project was developed, materials, fuel, money for salaries were allocated-people need to work on it, specialists need to work on it. So they started building quickly on a large scale. Ukraine does not do this. We do not involve large construction organizations. Everything is done for show. Anyone who has been near Bakhmut has seen trenches dug in open fields with a small concrete pillbox. It was just a way to show that defense lines were being built there. In fact, no one occupied these trenches in the open field, because it is a target that is clearly visible from copters. And the infantry is still digging in the plantation with shovels to give themselves some kind of shelter from surveillance, from drones. From enemy optics. Unfortunately, we still have no such positions that would be linked to the land environment, to the heights. This is a sad reality.
Why does the president say that we should take the Kupiansk direction as an example? Is it better built there? To be honest, I don't even know why he says this. As far as I can see from the places where the enemy is trying to advance in the Kupiansk sector, unfortunately, the infantry themselves are digging at the front. I think that the president is often not informed accurately enough, and he does not understand these issues. I've never seen Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelenskyy review the defense positions. You will not see a single report. He arrives somewhere where there are no active hostilities, takes a series of photos, presents awards, and quickly disappears. I once even wrote on Facebook: "Mr. Supreme Commander-in-Chief, please review at least once how your order to build fortified engineering structures and fortifications is being implemented. Why are you not looking at this? It's strange." And he still does not.
Is it true that in many places near Avdiivka, there is plywood where there should be concrete?
I don't know, to be honest. What is there near Avdiivka? There is a range of heights behind Avdiivka, where a chain of strongholds was dug in 2015-2016, where there were several - one or two concrete structures at each stronghold. There are a lot of earthen shelters and wood that is no longer suitable. It needs to be renewed. This is not a dense line of defense. This is a separate chain of strongholds. It is not echeloned. Not much has been dug there for modern warfare. To be honest, I didn't see anyone replacing anything there at all. Nothing is being built of concrete there now, I can tell you for sure. The main work is carried out by the troops themselves, who occupy certain positions. No engineering units are working there. That's why the enemy is advancing, trying to push through.
Are the consequences of the personnel changes in the top military leadership already visible in the Defence Forces?
There are some changes. The system of work has not changed yet. We will see. It's just that not enough time has passed. The people who have been appointed... it's not a team, it's just different people who have been appointed - someone because he is popular in the army, someone because he has some friends, someone because Syrskyi wants him in this position, and someone he doesn't want to see, but he has been appointed. There are a lot of different nuances. These appointees have not yet become a team. The system of work for these appointees has not yet been built. The manual management mode and fragmentation I mentioned and warned about remain the same. So let's see. There are some positive decisions, but they are noticeable in very narrow areas. And they promise that the first result of the new commander-in-chief's work will be soon. I will definitely broadcast it. We will talk about it. For those who see something, please send your vision.
Can we seize warehouses 3 kilometers from our border?
Of course, we can. I don't think these warehouses are immediately ready for use right now, but it is possible that we can find a certain amount of ammunition and some iron we need there. A certain amount of weapons has been preserved there. Although we should not be overly optimistic in this regard, because 32 years have passed, so some ammunition, some munitions may be useful, and some are simply unusable. Nevertheless, we see a parade of Russian troops. We see them conducting trainings there. They have equipment. They have ensured its serviceability and spare parts. That is, there are material resources there that are important to us in the war, which are of interest and may be of value. The main thing is that we can simply free our border from this threat and free up large forces.
Do you think that Transnistria could provoke a nuclear strike against Ukraine?
I do not know what could provoke a nuclear strike. Russia can launch a nuclear strike at any time without Transnistria. After all, Russia is using all its forces against Ukraine, trying to influence us as much as possible. In Ukraine, the Ukrainian defence forces have killed so many Russian soldiers... this is the population of several large Russian cities. So if Putin wants to start a nuclear war, he will do it anyway at any time.
Can Belarus intervene if Ukraine enters Transnistria?
I don't know why it should intervene. It has never talked about this possibility, and it has nothing to do with Belarus. If Putin forces Lukashenko to go to war against Ukraine with his army, Lukashenko will do it without any pretext like Transnistria.
Can the Transnistrian group go inland and create problems there?
Where can they go? In order for a group to go inland, it needs to be supplied with ammunition and fuel. Where are they going to get it from, are they going to attack somewhere themselves? This is just nonsense. There is, perhaps, a very weak Moldovan army, police, and these Russian groups will not just walk around, take a ride in Moldova. If Ukraine supports them with fire, they will have no chance at all.
What is the mobilization potential in Transnistria?
I said that they could raise up to 30,000 people. This is the total. Three Russian combat brigades - up to 6,000.
A meeting of reservists has been announced in Russia. Is this a new mobilization?
Yes, it is. It obviously looks like a new mobilization, because Russia needs to rotate its troops, to restore large losses. They can no longer replace them with convicts, volunteers, contractors, mercenaries. They don't have enough people. Because the Russian technique of these constant infantry assaults, constant waves, new assault groups, it requires a large number of people who can be used in this way. And, obviously, without mobilization, they will not be able to hold out. They will likely hold another mobilization after the presidential election in Russia. I would like to remind you that in December 2023, when Putin spoke about the first wave of mobilization, he said that 318 thousand people had been mobilized and that at that time, in December 2023, 244 thousand people remained mobilized in Ukraine. What happened to the rest? 84 thousand-what happened to them? Putin did not explain anything. You and I understand what happened to them. These are the killed, the wounded. Irrecoverable losses.
Do you believe in sending military commitments from some countries to Ukraine?
Unfortunately, it is unrealistic at the moment. But the Third World War is escalating. The confrontation with Russia is escalating all over the world. And we cannot rule it out in the future. But this is far from the near future. It is not this year for sure.
If Transnistria is destroyed, will Russia start hitting Moldova with drones and missiles?
I don't think they need to hit Moldova. They are hitting Ukraine with all their might, so this is not a Moldovan problem anymore
I am very grateful to you for the broadcast. I am grateful to those who support the channel - we have 1986 sponsors. Everyone demonstrates such support. I am very grateful for your moral support and for your inspiring photos, texts and everything you do to support us. I would like to thank 1986 people who constantly support my work, the work of our team with their contributions, and allow me to go on air enough to go to the front, to shoot reports there, to communicate there, to help our soldiers. Thank you all very much. Today, more than ever, I am confident in our Victory, for which the entire Ukrainian nation is working. Thank you for the broadcast. Glory to Ukraine!
