What is known about Moldova's self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria?

Facts and Figures

▪️ Transnistria, with its capital of Tiraspol, occupies a narrow strip of land lodged between the Dniester river and the Ukrainian border.

▪️ Overall area of Transnistria is 4,163 sq km, with a population of around 465,000.

▪️ The breakaway republic has a predominantly Russian-speaking population. Other languages used in the region are Romanian and Ukrainian.

▪️ It has its own constitution, parliament, flag and anthem, and currency, the Transnistrian ruble (rubla).

History

▪️ Predominantly Russian-speaking Transnistria, 60 percent of whose ethnic population are Russians and Ukrainians, had been seeking to secede from Moldova since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

▪️ A 1989 law that made Moldovan an official language added to the tension.

▪️ The region seceded from the Soviet Republic of Moldova in 1990.

▪️ The secession led to an armed conflict, with the territory's paramilitary forces taking over Moldovan public institutions in the area in 1991.

▪️ After Moldova failed to resolve the conflict by force, a ceasefire was signed in July 1992 and a demilitarized security zone was established.

▪️ The settlement was enforced by Russian troops stationed in the territory.

▪️ In 1992, Transnistria became a territory de facto beyond the control of the Moldovan capital Kishinev.

▪️ The conflict has remained unresolved. Peace in the area is maintained by a joint peacekeeping force comprising Russian, Transnistrian and Moldovan servicemen.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

What is Russia’s Orlan-30 surveillance drone?

The Orlan-30 (lit. ‘Eagle-30’) recon drone “proved itself very well” in helping Russian forces in the operation to liberate the Donbass city of Avdeyevka, the MoD said.

Here’s what we know about the UAV:

▪️ The Orlan-30 is an aerial reconnaissance, search, and artillery target designation drone equipped with laser target designator and signal repeater capability.

▪️ Produced since 2020, the UAV is a successor to the Orlan-10, a Russian reconnaissance drone design introduced in 2011. Both the Orlan-10 and the Orlan-30 are designed and manufactured by the Special Technology Center – a St. Petersburg-based defense concern.

▪️ The Orlan-30 has double the range of the Orlan-10 (600 km vs 300 km), a 10-18 hour flight time vs 5 hours, and a 6 km vs a 4.5 km flight ceiling). The Orlan-30 can carry up to 6-8 kg worth of onboard photo/video, thermal imager and other equipment, compared to 5 kg for the Orlan-10.

▪️ Both drones are designed to be closely integrated with the 2C19 Msta-SM, a Soviet-designed 152.4 mm self-propelled howitzer, and to adjust the fire of the system’s deadly Krasnopol laser-guided shells.

▪️ Orlan drones are launched from a catapult. Onboard guidance includes GLONASS and GPS-assisted navigation.

▪️ The Orlan-30 has a maximum takeoff weight of 40 kg, a flight speed of between 90 and 150 km per hour, and a cruising speed of about 100 km per hour.

▪️ The drone is can operate at temperatures between -30 and +40 degrees Celsius.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️The Russian Ministry of Defense has released a video showing an abandoned Ukrainian command post at the Avdeyevka Coke Plant equipped with a Starlink system. Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was presented with samples of foreign military hardware captured during the battles.

▪️Cases of fraud, product substitution, and theft were detected during arms purchases for Ukraine, Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch said.

▪️What is known about Moldova's self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria?

▪️The opening of the Salon de l'Agriculture in Paris has been delayed due to protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's arrival. Farmers started a fight with a special police squad sent to suppress the protests.

▪️Italian PM Meloni has joined the choir of those looking for a Russian trace everywhere

▪️What is Russia’s Orlan-30 surveillance drone?

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Russian air defense forces on duty at about 21:00 Moscow time (18:00 GMT) destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Warmonger Victoria Nuland makes it clear why the US supports Ukraine:

"We have to remember that the bulk of this money is going right back into the US to make those weapons," the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs said.

Everything is about money laundering and self-interest.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukrainian troops are suffering from a major shortage of artillery ammunition and other weapons, the country's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with CNN.

"We are suffering from a severe shortage of artillery shells and other types of weapons," Kuleba said.

He added that Ukrainian troops are under pressure from superior Russian forces.

The White House had previously warned that the funds at its disposal to support Ukraine are exhausted, and there will be no new supplies of weapons and ammunition until the US Congress approves additional funding.

Last April, Russia sent a note of protest to NATO on account of its weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said that any such deliveries would be a legitimate target for the Russian military and that NATO is "playing with fire".

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The US will lose World War III before it starts if President Joe Biden remains in power, former President Donald Trump warned.

"We will soon lose World War III. We won't even be in it, we'll be losing it," Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"Believe me when I offer you another warning," the presidential hopeful stressed, adding that if Biden wins in 2024, "the worst is yet to come." Trump emphasized that he is the only person who can stop the country's demise, and that a vote for him is a "ticket back to freedom."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‘Fratricide is a problem’: US merc reveals why he quit Ukraine

A former US soldier-turned mercenary who left Ukraine after becoming disillusioned with the side he was fighting for has shared his story with Russian media, revealing why he decided to quit, and how he believes the Ukrainian crisis can be put to bed.

▪️According to the ex-merc, who went by the call sign Maverick and fought in Ukraine for a total of about 4 months in 2022 and 2023, foreigners joining Ukraine’s Foreign Legion can be divided into several categories: ideologically motivated radicals, fortune seekers, murderous psychopaths out on a “human safari,” and “kamikazes” looking to commit suicide at the hands of the Russian Army.

▪️The rivalry between fighters over money and personal jealousies cannot be overstated, and “fratricide” – or the murder of your own men, “is a problem in Ukraine” that “few people write about.”

▪️The West greatly underestimated the capabilities of Russia’s military and its defense industry, which is outgunning Ukraine’s NATO-backed armies and “has superiority in most military equipment.”

▪️Taking prisoners of war is “a luxury,” and putting a bullet in the heads of wounded captured soldiers is seen as acting “ethically and pragmatically,” according to the merc.

▪️The most rabid ‘Ukrainian patriots’ sit in cafes in Kiev or do well-paid tech jobs in Lvov safely behind the frontlines, while “unlucky” poor ordinary Ukrainian men from godforsaken villages are forced to fight, with the latter’s morale “understandably low.”

▪️Maverick left Ukraine after losing “trust in many foreign fighters” and suffering a series of injuries, and experiencing outrage at the thought of fighting for Ukrainian ‘patriots’ who don’t seem to care about their own country.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ The United States and its allies have carried out strikes against Yemen's Houthi movement, hitting 18 military targets of the movement, the US Defense Department said.

"Today's necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across 8 locations in Yemen associated with Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter," the department said in a statement.

Pentagon added that the strikes were conducted by the US, the UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand in response to the "Houthis' continued attacks against commercial and naval vessels transiting the Red Sea and surrounding waterways."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia as it currently exists does not suit the United States, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland declared.

"This is not the Russia that, frankly, we wanted. We wanted [to see] a partner that would be oriented towards the West, [that] would become European,” Nuland complained.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson noted that Russia had gone out of its way to improve relations with the West, including by expressing readiness to join NATO as a gesture of openness to cooperation, yet the idea was rejected by US President Bill Clinton.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt