The inhabitants of Moldova, even those from the right side of the Nistru, are actively recruited to the Russian army that stays in the Transnistrian region without the consent of the official Chisinau, shows an investigation by RISE Moldova entitled “Recruiters from Tiraspol” that is quoted by IPN.
“People are looked for through announcements placed on the street, on poles or sent through private Telegram channels,” says the article.
The RISE journalist Vladimir Thorik, the author of the investigation, called several of the phone numbers indicated in announcements, presenting himself as an unemployed man from Bălți. The discussion centered on the prospects of being sent to the war in Ukraine and on the remuneration.
“One hour is enough to show who and how recruits Moldovans to the Russian army. I found information about the Russian military recruiters, including their family names and evidence of their affiliation to the army, through the agency of the phone numbers found in announcements. To determine who the phone numbers belonged to, we used several free applications, social networking sites and several Transnistrian and Russian databases,” Vladimir Thorik told IPN.
The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova presented the institution’s position on the issue in a comment sent to the editorial office of RISE. “The Operational Group of Russian Forces stays in the Transnistrian region without the consent of the Moldovan authorities, violating this way the international law principle,” says the official response. “The illegal recruitment of locals to the military task force detached to the Transnistrian region undermines the sovereignty and territorial integrity and goes against the neutrality status of the Republic of Moldova.”
Vladimir Thorik reminds that the separatist regime that turned the region into a ‘lawlessness reserve’ relies also on Russian bayonets and this was repeatedly confirmed by the Strasbourg Court by its decisions condemning the human rights violations in the Transnistrian region.
“The ECHR decisions say that as the Transnistrian region enjoys the military, economic and political support of Russia, it can further exist and can undermine the efforts made by Chisinau and the international organizations to solve the conflict and to promote democracy and the rule of law in the region,” the RISE investigative journalist told IPN.
