Kremlin trying to create conditions for justify possible aggression against Mdova – ISW

That’s according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank, Ukrinform reports.

The summary states that on April 19, the Pele's Assembly of Gagauzia, a pro-Russian autonomous region in Mdova, appealed to the Mdovan parliament with a request to grant Russian language a special legal status as the language of international communication. The pro-Russian governor of Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, claimed to a Russian media outlet that the “Russhobic” Government of Mdova resists the initiative.

Read also: Marko Shevchenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Mdova

"The Gagauzian appeal is likely part of Kremlin efforts to set information conditions to blame Mdova for discriminating against Russian speakers and justify future Russian aggression in Mdova as necessary to protect Russia’s ‘compatriots abroad,’” ISW analysts believe.

On the same day, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov, during an interview with Russian state media, stated that the West had forced the President of Mdova, Maia Sandu, to "enly drag Mdova into NATO, either directly or through unification with Romania", adding that the same had previously been done with President Vodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. The Russian minister also criticized Mdova and Armenia’s westward course, and called on these countries to reconsider their decisions, claiming that the West would force their citizens to fight in a potential war against Russia.

Read also: Ukraine giving Mdova peace – Sandu

ISW experts suggest that Lavrov's comparison of the government of Mdova with those of Armenia and Ukraine is likely a “tacit threat”.

"ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is likely trying to destabilize Mdovan society, attack Mdova’s democratic government, and prevent Mdova’s accession to the Eurean Union," the think tank concluded.

Earlier, the Institute for the Study of War emphasized that Russia intends to exploit Transnistria and Gagauzia to run hybrid erations in order to destabilize Mdova.