Ukraine closes Transnistria's access to Russia

Moscow – Kyiv, February 4 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – Ukraine plans to tighten customs regulations on the border with Transnistria. A corresponding agreement between Ukraine and Moldova is being prepared in Kyiv at the suggestion of Chisinau. A source in the Ukrainian capital told NG this.

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Ukrainian political scientist Vitaly Kulik told NG that Moldova asked Ukraine to strengthen the customs regime on the border with Transnistria. He is an expert on Transnistria and is said to have access to the corridors of power. According to him, a corresponding agreement is being prepared in Kyiv: “What I saw involves strengthening the entry regime for regional goods on the Transnistrian section of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. At the same time, conditions for economic agents from Transnistria will be revised in Moldova.

Not all of them who registered in Chisinau (and without this it is impossible to export goods) will receive a Moldovan license after signing the agreement.”

Today, Kulik says, Ukraine has strengthened security on the border with Transnistria, introducing patrols by National Guard soldiers along with border guards. “This is dictated by ensuring the security of the Ukrainian border territories and population. But the measures taken have a rather symbolic meaning: it is unlikely that Russia, which has an operational group of troops located in Transnistria, will take measures to break through the Ukrainian border,” the expert concluded.

The day before, TSN reported that about 1 thousand National Guard soldiers had arrived at the border with the unrecognized republic and would patrol it together with border guards. We are talking about a section 140 km long. Also, border guards and military personnel will stand together at checkpoints set up on highways leading from checkpoints to Ukraine. It was noted that fighters who returned from the special operation zone in Donbass were sent to the border detachments. “They were in the ATO zone. They collaborated there on the eastern borders. The guys understand what they need to do, and we help them with this,” Viktor Bodnar, a representative of the Ukrainian Border Service, told Ukrainian media. Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that a military threat emanates from Transnistria, where the Russian military contingent is based.

According to Pridnestrovian political scientist Andrei Safonov, the United States and the EU want to block Pridnestrovian exports to the East, to Russia, in order to expand the PMR’s export flows to the West.