You're reading: ​Poroshenko strikes a blow on Russian military positions in Transnistria

Better late than never.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed on June 8 a law that prohibits transit of Russian military troops to Transnistria, a Kremlin-backed breakaway region of Moldova. This move is meant to reduce Moscow’s influence in Transnistria, whose independence is not internationally recognized, and could be useful in future negotiations with Kremlin, analysts say.

The law denounces the existing agreement of 1995 that allowed the transit of Russian military troops to Transninstria through Ukraine’s territory. By ending it, Poroshenko may have blocked around 1,500 Russian soldiers currently stationed in Transnistria, putting pressure on the Kremlin.

In response, Moscow said it was ready to provide supplies to Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria by planes.

“It is quite costly for Russia,” says Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of International Security and Foreign Policy at the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center think tank. “The unrecognized republic does not have a common border with Russia so Moscow will need to ask Ukraine for permission to fly over its territory. This is a good subject for negotiations with the Kremlin that should be used to obtain concessions from Russia.”

Melnyk estimates that there are nearly 1,500 Russian soldiers in Transnistria, rotated every six months.

Before terminating the Transnistria troops transfer agreement, Ukraine’s Parliament ended five military cooperation agreements between Ukraine and Russia on May 21, including the law that allows movement of Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory. The memorandum to the law states that this agreement “is a direct threat to the national security and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Military experts praised the decision, but say it should have been done earlier.

“This decision should have been made last summer when it was obvious that Russia is an aggressor country,” says Melnyk. “Today Ukraine shouldn’t back off despite Russia’s possible aggressive steps or statements.”

Russian troops that have been sent to Transnistria through Chisinau.

During the last two months, nearly 50 Russian soldiers who came to Chisinau as peacemakers were detained in the airport and sent back to Russia as Moldovan authorities believed they were Russian military, not peacekeepers, according to Oazu Nantoi, program director of the Institute for Public Policy in Chisinau.

Deputy chairman of the Russian Parliament Sergey Zhelezniak said that Moscow will react harshly in case of a possible attack on Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria.

“If we get into war, the defeated side will have to answer for everything,” Zhelezniak said in the interview to the TV Russian political talk show “The Sunday Night with Vladimir Solivyov” on May 31.

Ukrainian analyst Melnyk doubts that Russia will start a war in Transnistria.

Nantoi says Russia’s position in the region is weakening.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities plan another move that will complicate matters for Transnistria. Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili has promised to strengthen Ukraine’s border with Transnistria to stop smuggling of drugs and weapons.

Transnistrian officials have already accused Ukraine of a blockade when, in May, Ukraine stopped letting Transnistria inhabitants enter Ukraine using Russian passports.

Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]