Is Transnistria Moldova, Russia or an independent state? Memorial to those killed during the Great Patriotic War in Rybnitsa.

(PMR) an unrecognized state in southeastern Europe. It borders on the west with Moldova, on the east with Ukraine. It has no access to the sea. According to the Constitution of Moldova, it is part of the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The area of the country is 4.2 thousand km2. Capital Tiraspol.

The population is 550 thousand people. (2007). In 1990, the population of Transnistria was 730 thousand inhabitants. Almost 30.0% of the population are Ukrainians, 28.0% Russians, about 30.0% Moldovans, Bulgarians, Belarusians and others also live, representatives of 35 nationalities, including Jews, Gagauz, Tatars, etc.

Reasons for the conflict in Transnistria:
1) Transnistria was an industrialized part of the agrarian Republic of Moldova. The overwhelming majority of large industrial enterprises in Transnistria were subordinate to the union and were focused on all-union needs. The industry of Transnistria was more connected with the industrial centers of Ukraine and Russia than with Moldova itself. In addition, quite developed modern high-tech industries were located in Transnistria.

This industrial structure of Transnistria required highly educated executive and managerial personnel. Therefore, the director's corps industrial enterprises, and also the party nomenclature of the region was staffed mainly not from Moldovans, but from the circle of the all-Union nomenklatura, residents of large cities in Russia and Ukraine. For this reason, the Transnistrian nomenklatura had fairly close ties with Moscow and considered itself part of the all-Union nomenclature, representing to a certain extent, both in Transnistria and in Moldova as a whole, the interests of the Union Center. She maintained purely nominal relations with the republican party nomenklatura of Moldova;

2) the nomenklatura of Transnistria was devoted to communist ideology, the integrity of the Soviet state and the socialist administrative economy. At this time, the process of ethnopoliticization of Moldovan society and the ruling party nomenclature occurred very quickly. Moreover, this process took place not under the slogans of the rise of the Moldovan, national, but under the sign of the Romanianization of Moldovan society.

In the spring of 1990, as a result of democratic elections, representatives of the Popular Front, which united both national democrats and ultra-nationalists, came to power. The government of the Republic of Moldova was headed by M. Druc, who sympathized with nationalist sentiments. Thus, the Transnistrian nomenklatura has lost any prospect of being represented both in republican structures and in Moldovan society as a whole.

On August 2, 1990, based on the results of a national referendum, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was proclaimed. Transnistria abandons the Moldavian tricolor and uses the USSR flag as its official flag. It was subsequently changed;

4) linguistic factor in the conflict: on August 31, 1989, Moldova adopted a law stating that the official language is the language of the titular nation, establishing the Moldovan language as the state language, identical to Romanian, with Latin spelling. The predominant Russian-speaking part of the population of Transnistria was excluded from both the cultural and information environment of the Republic of Moldova;

5) historical background: historically, Transnistria began to be part of the Republic of Moldova only in 1940. From 1924 to 1940, it existed as a state entity in the form of the Moldavian Autonomous Socialist Republic within Ukraine. From 1792 to 1917, Transnistria was part of the Russian Empire. Bessarabia was incorporated into the empire in 1812.
The history of Transnistria's statehood shows that it has the same historical rights to return to Russia or Ukraine as the inclusion of that part of Moldova, which was called Bessarabia, into Romania. Of course, Moldova’s move towards rapprochement with Romania could not but cause polarization of the positions of the population of Transnistria;

6) political prerequisites: an important political prerequisite that provided Transnistria with the opportunity to determine its new state status, and, therefore, made its participation in the conflict expedient, was the problem of union autonomy. Being part of the renewed Union made it possible for the Transnistrian nomenklatura to receive the same state status as the republican nomenklatura of Moldova. The Martovsky (1991) draft of the new Union Treaty provided for an increase in the subjects of the Union, which could already include not only the Union republics, but also the autonomies within them. In this way, the Union Center tried to keep the union republics within the USSR. The adoption of such a Treaty automatically meant the secession of Transnistria from Moldova.

Features of the emergence of the conflict in Transnistria: despite the fact that Transnistria makes up about 12.2% of the territory of Moldova, historically it considered itself an equal subject in relation to the other part of the republic; the direction of the actions of the political forces that took part in the conflict was not related to the assertion of the sovereignty of Moldova, but on the contrary was subordinated to integration into foreign state entities and orientation towards external factors, both on the part of Chisinau, which was striving for unification with Romania, and on the part of Transnistria, which was striving to join Russia.

In order to stop hostilities, on July 21, 1992, a meeting was held in Moscow between the President of the Republic of Moldova M. Snegur and the President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin, at which an Agreement on the principles of conflict resolution in the Transnistrian region was signed. From that moment on, the conflict between Chisinau and Transnistria entered the stage of de-escalation. The Moscow (1992) agreement became the basis for the further development of the conflict resolution process. The main political and legal principles that are set out in it:
- respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova;
- strict observance of human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to national minorities;
- determination by political methods, including parliamentary means, of the special status of the Left Bank of the Transnistrian region within the Republic of Moldova;
- granting the population of the Left Bank the right to determine their own future in the event of a change in the state status of Moldova;
- exclusion of any actions on anyone’s part that could impede the resolution of the conflict by peaceful political means.

However, the implementation of these principles in practice turned out to be very difficult, since there is whole line unresolved key problems:

1) the problem of determining a mutually acceptable political status of Transnistria. A mutually agreed upon idea of the political status of Transnistria is expressed in the concept of a “common state”. The main problem with this is the different interpretation of this concept by the Moldovan and Transnistrian sides. Chisinau stated that this state is the Republic of Moldova (RM), which is ready to grant special status to the Transnistrian region. In 2005, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a law on special legal status Transnistria, where it secured territorial autonomy for the Transnistrian region within Moldova. The authorities and people of Transnistria abandoned autonomy in favor of independence. In September 2006, a referendum was held in the PMR. For the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and its subsequent free accession to Russian Federation 97% of Transnistrian citizens who took part in the referendum spoke out. In total, 78.9% of the republic's population took part in the voting. The results of this referendum were not accepted by either Moldova or the international community represented by the UN.

The Pridnestrovian side sees a common state as a union of two sovereign, independent states, two equal subjects of international law - the Republic of Moldova and the Moldavian Republic Transnistrian Republic. She advocates confederal relations with Moldova. But this option may be acceptable in the case when both subjects of the confederation have already become independent states;

2) problems of an economic nature: despite the fact that the parties agreed to have general economy, about general economic space Moldova and Transnistria can only be discussed in the foreign economic aspect. Pridnestrovian products are sold on the world market as products of the Republic of Moldova, using Moldovan quotas and Moldovan customs legislation. But in the internal economic aspect, Pridnestrovie has an independent economy.

The main problem is that after the events of 1990, due to objective and subjective reasons, social development and Transnistria and the Republic of Moldova had different priorities. Moldova proclaimed the principles of democracy and the free market as the overriding principles; in Transnistria, all state property is under personal control the leader of the republic and his narrow circle. The Transnistrian nomenklatura adheres to command-administrative methods of economic management. At the same time, Moldova managed to owe Transnistria $31 million for electricity and is in no hurry to pay it back;

3) the problem of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria and the reduction of the Russian military presence in the region. The Russian 14th Army took part in the Transnistrian conflict on the side of the Transnistrian people, then after the establishment of peace, with its help, a regular army of Transnistria with a strength of 5 thousand people was created, as well as a Russian peacekeeping battalion, which still operates in the security zone. Moldova sees the presence of the 14th Army on its territory as a threat to its national security. Tiraspol considers the 14th Army to be the guarantor of its security and peace. In addition, Transnistria is putting forward its claims to part of the property of the 14th Army.

Although the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic remains an unrecognized state, as a state the republic has proven its viability. The political power in Transnistria is legitimate, because it was elected by the population of the republic as a result of elections.

On September 2, the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic celebrates Republic Day.

On this day, at the Second Congress of People's Deputies of all levels, five regions of Moldova of the Pridnestrovian Union Republic located on the left bank of the Dniester as part of the USSR, and later, after Moldova left the USSR, the independent Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) with its center in Tiraspol. At the same time, the city of Bendery and several adjacent right-bank villages also spoke out in favor of joining the PMR. The reason for this step was the statements of nationalist radicals in Chisinau about Moldova’s withdrawal from the USSR and the possibility of its joining Romania.

The Moldovan authorities did not agree with the decision of the Transnistrian deputies and tried to solve the problem by sending troops into the unrecognized republic. In April 1992, an armed conflict began in Transnistria, which lasted several months until mid-July. As a result, Chisinau lost control over the left-bank regions, and Transnistria became a territory virtually beyond the control of Chisinau.

Tiraspol has not received international recognition, but is actively seeking it. Moldova offers Pridnestrovians autonomy within a single state.

In Transnistria, all organs are formed and fully functioning state power: legislative (Supreme Council and local councils), executive (Cabinet of Ministers, consisting of ministers and heads of departments included in the structure of executive authorities, as well as heads of state administrations of cities and districts), judicial (Constitutional, Supreme,

Arbitration (economic), courts, city and district courts), as well as the Prosecutor's Office as an independent supervisory authority and the Accounts Chamber.
Industrial production occupies a dominant place in the economy of the republic. Over 37 thousand people are employed in industry.

The share of industry in the structure of gross internal product exceeds 30%. Payments from industrial enterprises account for over 60% of the total amount of payments to the budget and extra-budgetary funds.

The basis of the economy of Transnistria is large enterprises, such as the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant (MMZ), the Moldavian State District Power Plant, the Tirotex textile plant, the Quint cognac factory, the Sheriff company and others.

The leading place in the economy of the PMR is occupied by the electric power industry, ferrous metallurgy, light and food industries, mechanical engineering, metalworking, manufacturing building materials. Important Contribution Enterprises from the chemical, woodworking, furniture, printing, glass, and flour-grinding industries also contribute to the state's economy.

In the small business sector there are over 500 enterprises engaged in production activities.

The main types of products of industrial enterprises: electricity, rolled ferrous metals, foundry machines, electric machines and pumps, low-voltage equipment, cable products, electrical insulating materials, cement, fiberglass, furniture, cotton fabrics, shoes, clothing, wine, cognac and alcoholic beverages.

The republic's enterprises are export-oriented: about 90% of all products produced are supplied to the CIS countries and far abroad. Pridnestrovie mainly exports metal, textiles, electricity, food, and shoes.

Transnistria has high agroclimatic and biological soil potential. Share Agriculture accounts for 5-6% in the structure of GDP.

The state reserve "Yagorlyk" is located on the territory of Transnistria. According to its status, it is a scientific reserve created in order to preserve the natural complex of the water area and coastal zone of the Yagorlyk backwater in its natural state, create favorable conditions in this area for the reproduction of rare and endangered species of animals and plants and study the natural course of natural processes.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

One of the phenomena modern world- "unrecognized states". They have their own names, capitals and constitutions; its economy, its documents, its currency; their ideology, and often their nation... but their passports are not valid anywhere outside their territory, which is usually very modest; their currency will not be accepted by any bank on Earth except their own; you won’t see foreign embassies in their capitals; they are not even marked on maps. Sometimes they are recognized - by several countries (like Abkhazia), half the world (like Palestine) or the whole world (like South Sudan). Former USSR as the last collapsed empire, it is especially rich in such “splinters” - Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the past also Gagauzia (1990-1994) and Ichkeria (1990-2000).

They all started with wars. And without visiting Transnistria, you can’t help but imagine it as, if not a “hot spot,” then a “besieged fortress.” It was all the more surprising to discover, on this narrow strip between the Dniester and Ukraine, a poor, but quite living state. Most of all, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic resembles some kind of Russian national autonomy such as Udmurtia or Khakassia. But the PMR is not at all similar to Moldova
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I will also talk about Bendery, Tiraspol, Rybnitsa and the rural hinterland, which I examined with wwvvwwvv And bes_arab , but first - general impressions: people, signs, features and the central square of the capital.

As a disclaimer. One must write about places involved in conflicts either 100% positively or 100% negatively - after all, the slightest sympathy for “that” side by “that” side is unforgivable. If I see even 1% of good in the PMR, I am a bloody imperialist who dreams of seeing Russian tanks in Chisinau, Tbilisi and Riga; if I see even 1% of bad things in the PMR, I’ve sold out to the West, fap on Saakashvili and write an order for the VashObkom. What if not 1%, but approximately 50%, like in any country? In general, I am mentally preparing to find myself under cross-throwing, and I warn you, as always - for rudeness and personalization, as well as insulting any country - a ban. And also - keep in mind that I was a guest here and not for long, so much of what you may consider malicious “propaganda” from either side may in fact be just my accidental mistake.

2. In the center of Bendery.

Transnistria is very small even compared to Moldova: area - 4.16 thousand square kilometers (this is 4 times larger than Moscow within the Moscow Ring Road), population - 518 thousand people, which is less than Chisinau alone, and in principle for this In two indicators, the PMR roughly corresponds to Luxembourg, the largest of the microstates in Europe. The main cities are Tiraspol (148 thousand inhabitants) and Bendery (98 thousand), as well as, from south to north, the regional centers of Slobodzeya (20 thousand, the only one south of Tiraspol), Grigoriopol (9.5 thousand), Dubossary (25 thousand), Rybnitsa (50 thousand), (9.2 thousand). Almost equally Moldovans (32%), Russians (30%) and Ukrainians (29%) live here, and since the PMR’s passports are not recognized in the world just like it itself, almost everyone has dual citizenship, mostly some kind from these three countries.

3. In the center of Rybnitsa.

The prehistory of Transnistria is somewhat more complicated, and fully explains its isolation from Moldova. It became part of Russia 20 years earlier - in 1792, the southern part - after the next Russian-Turkish war, and the northern part - under the II section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Accordingly, historically, the southern half of Transnistria belonged to New Russia (Kherson province, Tiraspol district), the northern half belonged to Podolia (Podolsk province, Baltic and Olgopol districts), while the Bessarabian province included only Bendery. At the same time, in Romanian historiography there is a point of view that already in those days Slavicized Moldovans lived beyond the Dniester, therefore the left bank of the Dniester with Odessa is, as it were, originally Romanesque territory. It is interesting that if in Romania and in the West this territory is called Transnistria ("Transnistria"), in the local Moldavian it is called Nistrenia (Dniester region).

4. At the market in Tiraspol.

Be that as it may, the first prototype of the PMR was the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1924-40), which did not include Bendery, but included the north of the current Odessa region - its first centers were Balta (1924-28), Birzula (1928-29, now Kotovsk) and finally Tiraspol. There were several such “seemingly hinting” regions in the USSR in the 1930s: the Karelo-Finnish SSR, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic... but only in Moldova did things go beyond hints, and perhaps if it weren’t for the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, we would now have at most Tiraspol region of Ukraine, or even just areas of Odessa and Vinnytsia regions. But about the events of 1989-1992 - later... The Romanians created their prototype of the PMR during the Second World War: Transnistria with its capital in Odessa, even during the era of occupation, did not belong to Bessarabia and consisted of 13 of its own counties.

The first thing that looks different here after Moldova is the people. Completely different faces and mood: no trace remains of the Moldovan relaxed sloppiness. The faces of people here are firm, concentrated, I would even say gloomy. Expressing even a dramatic resentment, not typical for the Slavs, against everyone and everything from the president to ex-husband, but a stoic readiness for impending disaster.

However, I would not say that people here are angry and unfriendly. In my impressions, there is more everyday rudeness in Moldova. I spoke to passers-by here a little, but where I spoke, they usually listened attentively and explained in detail. It’s just that people here seem to be in tense anticipation - well, something like when you’ve been sitting in line for more than an hour and don’t know whether they’ll give you a vital document or not. Pridnestrovians have been living in this queue for 20 years.

But they still live, not survive. More precisely, they “survive” in the same sense of the word that is meant in this in our outback - the republic, to put it mildly, is not rich. According to statistics, the GDP per capita in Moldova and the PMR is approximately the same, but I asked about the real situation on both sides of the Dniester. As I understand it, Chisinau is significantly richer than Transnistria, Pridnestrovians even go there to work, but the outback in Moldova is poorer than the outback of the PMR. At the same time, the presence of a “steady hand” and humanitarian assistance from Russia is reflected - for example, pensions in Transnistria are about one and a half times higher than in Moldova, but still miserable even by the standards of the Russian Federation ($80 and $120, respectively). But the widespread assertion that in Transnistria the roads are significantly better than in Moldova, to be honest, I cannot confirm - in my opinion it’s about the same.

At the same time, the people here, it seemed to me, are less patriarchal and more urban compared to the Moldovans. An indicator is that in Moldova I almost never saw informals, but in the PMR there are classic nefers in leather jackets, and shuttlers, and hipsters, and girls with blue hair. Girls in Transnistria are beautiful (multinationality affects them), well-groomed, and often very stylishly dressed.

9. Rybnitsa schoolchildren at a cleanup event.

Here are schoolchildren in Bendery collecting donations to help orphans. The promotion is quite funny - you donate money to them, they give you a “palm” made of colored paper with one adhesive side, and you stick it on the sheet as a sign of involvement. On the day of my arrival, two such groups were walking around Bendery, and you had to see with what seriousness and concern they approached the matter.

In general, I liked and remembered the Pridnestrovian youth. Many high school students here have unexpectedly bright faces, almost like in Soviet cinema. At the same time, gopniks and other aggressive bipedal fauna have a larger population here than in Moldova, but this is already a problem for the entire East Slavic world.

Schoolchildren on an excursion to the Bendery Fortress:

Accordion player in Tiraspol. Let the southern appearance of many Transnistrians not be surprising: the largest minority of Transnistria is the Bulgarians (2% of the population), living mainly in Parkany - the largest village in the PMR (10.5 thousand inhabitants), through which Bendery and Tiraspol merged (even the route of the intercity trolleybus No. 19 runs mainly along Parcani). Bulgarians have citizenship of Bulgaria, that is, the European Union, and generally keep to themselves. It seemed to me that other Pridnestrovians were jealous of them.

Another interesting point: before the trip, I was sure that in Moldova it is rare to see a policeman, but in the PMR there is a cop on every corner. In the end, it turned out to be the other way around: in Moldovan cities there are a lot of cops even after Russia and Kazakhstan (and in addition there are very strict laws), but in the PMR I only saw policemen briefly a couple of times, and three times a car drove past with the sign “Police”. I don’t even remember traffic cops on the roads. And in principle, I didn’t even really see what uniform the PMR policemen had. But there are really a lot of people in the Unrecognized Country - the military, especially in Bendery:

In general, before the trip, I imagined Transnistria as a light dictatorship, like Belarus or Kazakhstan, with a lifelong Leader of the Nation and an opposition within the limits of statistical error. However, Igor Smirnov, who ruled the country for 20 years and once led the struggle for independence, recently lost the elections democratically: Yevgeny Shevchuk won, gaining 38% and 75% of the votes, respectively, in two rounds, and this happened without the post-election squabbles and Maidan activists traditional for the post-Soviet space . Smirnov was described to me something like this: “He did a lot for the country, you don’t have to agree with those who criticize him... but in the last 8-10 years he became bronzed and started stealing” - now that’s it above typical for the former USSR.

The second aspect that you immediately notice here after Moldova is... but you didn’t guess right. This is the industry:

This division into agrarian-nationalist and industrial-pro-Soviet parts exists in many post-Soviet countries. The most famous example is Ukraine; Kazakhstan is a little less noticeable in this sense. But in its purest form this division was precisely in the Moldavian SSR. Firstly, the presence of a clear border - the Dniester; secondly, if in Eastern Ukraine there are black soils and agro-industrial complex, and in Western Ukraine there are still several large factories, and Southern Kazakhstan is not inferior to Northern Kazakhstan in industrialization, in Moldova west of the Dniester there is almost no large heavy industry, and to the east there is simply not enough space for agriculture . The industrial center of the PMR is Rybnitsa, where its own metallurgical plant is located; There are powerful factories in Tiraspol (say, Elektromash, whose director was Smirnov), and in Bendery, as well as a state district power station in Dnestrovsk and a hydroelectric power station in Dubossary.... Although only 12% of the area and population of the Moldavian SSR remained behind the PMR, here half of its industry is concentrated, including 2/3 of the electric power industry. In addition, unlike Moldova, the PMR receives gas from Russia at preferential prices (and often on credit, and Moldova again pays off the debts), and for a long time the independence of Transnistria was guaranteed not only by the Russian army, but also by the opportunity to block the pipe to the Moldovans.
Well, in general, where there is industry, there is nostalgia for the Union, sympathy for Russia as its successor, faith in a “steady hand” and fair distribution of wealth, and where there is peasantry, there is nationalism and small business, incompatible with the Soviet past. It seems to me that in Ukraine, too, the contradictions are not so much civilizational or religious as class ones - the gap between the peasantry and the proletariat.

And only in third place in the order of differences is language. Transnistria is also unique in that essentially the Moldovan language (and not a dilaect of Romanian) has been preserved only here. Firstly, it is still in Cyrillic (and don’t forget that the Wallachians also used the Cyrillic alphabet until the 1860s), and secondly, if in Moldova many Moldavian words were recognized as vernacular and were replaced in the literary language by Romanian ones, in Even this did not happen in Transnistria. However, frankly speaking, Moldavian is not in use here. I heard the statement that not a single book in Moldavian has yet been published in the PMR - I cannot judge how true this is.

At the same time, three languages are considered de jure official - Moldavian, Russian and Ukrainian:

In fact, things are approximately the same as in the already mentioned national autonomies of the Russian Federation such as Mordovia or Karelia - the environment here is 90% Russian-speaking, Ukrainian and Moldavian are present mainly in official signs and in the rural outback (explanation for you-know-who - in the Russian Federation there is a difference between republic and republic, and for example in Tatarstan and Bashkiria the situation with languages is completely different).

Another myth about Transnistria is that it is supposedly a “living museum of the USSR.” Well, there really are a couple of “exhibits”:

But in general, no particular socialism, especially in landscapes, was noticed in the PMR. Belarus is much more suitable for the role of the “living USSR”. Let's say there is no less outdoor advertising here than in Moldova, Ukraine or Russia.

The cult of Victory is clearly expressed even in Right Bank Ukraine, even in Volyn (which is already Western Ukraine), so there is no way to resemble “Soviet specifics”:

And there are monuments to victims of repression:

In general, soviet-style is nothing more than a ruse for European backpackers. Perhaps the only attribute is a large number of posters and slogans on the theme of love for the Motherland, and the flag of the Moldavian SSR minus the hammer and sickle:

Something else is much more real - there really was a war here:

23. House of Soviets in Bendery.

Moreover, only the decisive battle took place for Bendery in June 1992, and skirmishes, provocations and shootouts had happened here before, mainly in the Dubossary area. You can read more about the history of the conflict on Wikipedia. I asked people on both sides of the Dniester about what happened here in those years. Here are some rough quotes:
- Moldova, a person of pro-Russian-anti-Romanian views: The Pridnestrovians simply saw what was going on here, the antics of all these nationalists, the course towards unification with Romania, the destruction of factories that were advanced for the Union, such as the Chisinau Computer Plant. And although among those who fought there there were a lot of scumbags, all sorts of ragamuffins who were simply given the opportunity to shoot and handed a machine gun upon presentation of their passport, we respect the Pridnestrovians for defending their independence with arms in hand. And in general, many here share the ideas of Transnistria, but damn it - this is a gangster state! Pirate Republic! It used to get to the point that at the Bendery customs there was one regime, at Dubossary another, at Rybnitsa a third - whatever the local brothers wanted. It's a shame - they discredit ideas that could become popular in Moldova.
- Moldova, a person of more neutral views. What happened in Transnistria is in fact nothing more than a “revolt of the Red Directors”. There are huge factories there, and that’s a lot of money, and the directors understood that the new government would overthrow them(...and destroy factories - my note), and therefore skillfully played the anti-Romanian card, becoming state power from directors.
- Transnistria, patriot. For us, for the first 15 years there was no such question at all - “what happened there.” We all knew what we were fighting for, and only in the last 5 years have some alternative versions begun to appear. This is all nonsense. And it’s also nonsense that it was a national conflict - Moldovans fought on this side, and Russians on that side ( which is confirmed by the lists of the dead - my note ) .
In general, residents of Moldova unanimously agree that Transnistria exists in the interests of local oligarchs, and on both sides of the border they say “our friends live there” (we are talking about ordinary people).

24. Rybnitsa and Rezina, between them the Dniester.

In general, although it all started with a war, now the relations between one and a half states are surprising. Firstly, by the fact that in principle there are relations between them (unlike, for example, Georgia-Abkhazia). If in Azerbaijan they can imprison a foreigner caught visiting Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldovans in Transnistria regularly ride themselves. Pridnestrovians go to Chisinau (which is almost a metropolis for them) to work and go out - it is much more accessible to them than Odessa. In principle, Moldova, in relation to the PMR, has taken the position “no matter what the child amuses himself with...”, “if you want to consider yourself independent, consider it.” I have already written about a one-way border - on the PMR side there is full-fledged border control, on the Moldova side, at most, a reinforced police station. It is not a problem to enter or leave Moldova illegally through the PMR, and in general this border creates more inconvenience for Moldovans than for Pridnestrovians. There are, however, a number of nuances: first, if you entered Moldova through the PMR, you must voluntarily go to the authorities and register (lately, they say, there is an exception for passengers of the Moscow-Chisinau train going through Bendery - Moldovan border guards meet them on the train), if you came to Moldova and want to leave through the PMR to Ukraine, it is better to have both a foreign passport and an internal passport of the Russian Federation or Ukraine with you: Transnistria does not put any stamps, and you end up with Ukrainian border guards with an open Moldovan border, which is fraught with extortion of a bribe. And the option of two passports is bad because if you decide to come to Moldova again, there will be problems at the entry due to the “hanging stamp”. For this reason, I returned from Transnistria to Chisinau and traveled by train through the north.
But with currencies, the separation is complete: in Moldova - lei, in Transnistria - their own special rubles - “suvoriki” with Suvorov and inscriptions in three languages (and the Ukrainian ones had errors in a couple of editions). Changing lei in the PMR is not a problem, but it makes no sense to travel to Moldova with the Transnistrian ruble.

25. On the Moldovan coast. View from Transnistria.

Although from time to time all sorts of provocations occur between the two banks of the Dniester - either they jam each other’s cellular communications, or they try to establish a transport blockade, or vice versa - in 1999-2000, while the Chisinau airport was under reconstruction, its flights were received and sent by Tiraspol. In general, the posts of Russian peacekeepers are still standing:

And the Pridnestrovians do not regret separating from Moldova. On both sides of the Dniester they regret those killed in that war, the culprit of which is called Mircea Snegur, “an absolutely irresponsible ruler.” I was surprised that General Lebed had a positive attitude even in Moldova - “this man stopped the bloodshed.” Yes, he stopped it, threatening to fire a volley from Grads at Chisinau, essentially taking the PMR from Moldova by force, but here everything is somewhat more complicated: Transnistria, although small, it so happened that most of the Soviet military equipment was on its territory: so, Even now Moldova does not have a single tank, nor did it have them then. If the war had flared up, it could have dragged on for years and claimed tens of thousands of lives, as in Chechnya or Tajikistan. And gratitude to Lebed for the defeat inflicted in this vein is quite humanistic. The Japanese, however, are also grateful to the United States for Hiroshima, but Lebed never fired, but only threatened.

But I somehow cannot confirm the assertion that Pridnestrovians live only in fear and hatred of Romania, which they have made a national bogeyman here. In my opinion, Romanianization is much more feared in Moldova itself, but Pridnestrovians do not really remember Romania in everyday life; it does not play any role in their lives. Although, of course, it is surprising to what extent in the 1990s people were afraid of this prospect - Transnistria, the Gagauz, and most of the Moldovans themselves.

Now, especially in the news, the role of foreign policy should not be overestimated. Both in Moldova and in the PMR, problems such as: no work, lower pensions are much more pressing living wage, bureaucrats steal, the housing is too heavy, prices are rising, trains are being cancelled, etc.

Although political life An unrecognized state has a number of its own oddities. Since many Pridnestrovians are citizens of Russia, that is, voters, familiar logos and names are present here:

Ukraine, apparently out of solidarity with Moldova, is not so impudent (or maybe its parties are simply not allowed here), although I do not exclude that you can contact the “Party of Regions” or “Batkovshchina” here:

Although what blew my mind most of all was this: the Embassy of Abkhazia and South Ossetia! They even have a “second CIS” - the Commonwealth of Unrecognized States. And judging by other people’s photographs, Transnistria is most of all a state among them.

There is even a holding company here - “Sheriff”, which all travelers without saying a word mention in the context of “Sheriff’s security chases photographers.” In the republic he owns most of the supermarkets, gas stations, oil depots and car services, his own TV channel, all cellular communications and the Internet in Transnistria, as well as a giant sports complex on the outskirts of Tiraspol and since 2006 the Quint cognac factory, and 12 thousand people work in all of this - 2.5% of the total population of the country. I have never been inside these supermarkets, but in general they say that in Moldova the shops and catering are much better, if only due to greater competition.

Wherein subsidiary"Sheriff" IDC, a monopolist on cellular communications in Transnistria, does not use the GSM format. What does it mean? Well, for example, my mobile phone with a Moldovan SIM card did not receive reception in Tiraspol. The only thing that saves the situation a little is that Transnistria is very narrow, and in most of it the phone picks up signals from Moldova and Ukraine.

Well, at the end of the post - about the main square of Tiraspol. The main street or square of the capital is almost always the façade of the state, and in Tiraspol it is very revealing. The huge square (about 700x400 meters, including public gardens!) goes directly to the banks of the Dniester, and bears the name of Suvorov:

Alexander Suvorov founded Tiraspol as the Middle Fortress of the Dniester Line; Suvorov took Izmail, after which Transnistria became part of Russia. And a truly spectacular equestrian monument to him was erected back in 1979 and immediately became a symbol of Tiraspol. In general, Suvorov here plays almost the same role as Stephen the Great in Moldova - of course, there are not monuments to him in every city, and Suvorov Street is not always central, but he is here on all banknotes. Yes, and objectively - who else?

Nearby is the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity (the edge is visible) and a characteristic poster. One of the things that I remember about Tiraspol is ornamental cabbage. I, of course, have seen it before, but never before in such quantities. The cabbage beds are very colorful, but they smell like ordinary cabbage from the kitchen, and that’s why I also remember Tiraspol for its cabbage smell.

Here is the building of the Government and the Supreme Council (in appearance, from the 1980s), in front of which Lenin is more alive than anyone else (however, after Russia, Belarus and Eastern Ukraine, this should not surprise anyone):

On the contrary, closer to the banks of the Dniester, there is a military memorial:

At the wall - Defender of Transnistria and an Afghan who looks like an American action hero:

On the “Transnistrian” monument there are the names of 489 people who died in battles on this side (Moldova lost about the same number), behind the door is a museum, where I no longer went, since I was in the museum in Bendery. Among the names, I especially note these:

Next is the Great Patriotic War memorial: they fought for the Dniester, of course, not in the same way as for the Dnieper, but very cruelly, and on the bridgeheads of the right bank there are now their own huge memorials (I never saw any of them) - for example,

The whole world thinks that Transnistria is Moldova. Transnistria itself thinks that they are Russia. Russia thinks that Transnistria is an independent state, but at the same time it supplies gas there for free. In general, I went to Transnistria to figure it out myself. I'm telling you!

Brief history of the conflict:

It all started with the fact that in 1988, 66 Moldovan writers demanded to recognize not Russian, but Romanian as the state language and to start writing it in Latin. This did not please the residents of Tiraspol, where 90% of the population was Russian-speaking. As a result, a confrontation began between greater Moldova, which wanted to join Romania, and Transnistria, which wanted to remain part of the Soviet Union.

Transnistria held a referendum, where 91% of the population voted for independence. As a result, after a couple of years of mutual skirmishes, armed clashes began. People started dying. The Transnistrians defended their cities from the Moldovans, who wanted to take control of them. The clashes intensified and then calmed down.

In 91, the USSR collapsed. They started shooting again. The 14th Russian Army remained on the territory of Transnistria, which helped the Pridnestrovians with ammunition.

In 1992, General Lebed came here, met with all parties to the conflict and said: “If I hear another shot, then I will have breakfast in Tiraspol, lunch in Chisinau, and dinner in Bucharest.” This ended the war. They believed the swan.

Now in Transnistria, signs are written in two languages, and the Moldovan language continues to be written in Cyrillic, although in Moldova itself they have long switched to the Latin alphabet:

In general, there are three official languages in Transnistria. Also Ukrainian. It’s a little more than 100 kilometers from Odessa:

The main events took place in the village of Dubossary and the city of Bendery:

In Bendery, some houses still have traces of bullets:

The distance between Bendery and Tiraspol is only 8 kilometers, but these are considered two different cities. Between them there is a post with Russian peacekeepers:

But enough history. Let me show you what modern Tiraspol looks like. Here is its main square and main building. In front of him is a monument to Lenin. By the way, here, as it seemed to me, there is the largest concentration of monuments to Lenin of all the cities that I have seen:

The streets are constantly cleared of snow, although it doesn’t happen here often:

Unlike, there is no madness and diversity on the facades of the houses. Everything is very calm and neat:

The main street is very wide. Few cars:

Coat of arms of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Doesn't remind you of anything?

The city of Tiraspol was founded by order of Suvorov, so he is a national hero here:

The main shopping center of the country:

They still sell tickets for Transaero here:

Do you want to know what life is like in the city? Look at private advertisements. They mainly offer cargo transportation to Moscow or Chisinau and various tourist trips. I didn’t find any advertisements for apartments for sale:

Cinema. Here comes the Viking and everyone spits at him in the same way. I haven't seen it myself yet. Is it really that bad?

Foreign companies do not operate in Transnistria, since they will have to pay taxes twice - once in Moldova, the second time in Transnistria. So all the business is domestic, and the brands are all local. The names sometimes coincide with Russian ones:

Almost all areas of business in Transnistria are dominated by the local company Sheriff. I still don’t understand who it belongs to. Someone said that it was the son of the first president, someone that it was just two clever young men, but this Sheriff is everywhere here:

Recently they even built a stadium in Tiraspol. They say that UEFA representatives named it the best stadium in Europe. They also say that the entire construction cost less than a million dollars, which I believe with great difficulty. Like all the builders were local and all the building materials were also produced at Sheriff’s enterprises:

Park in the city center:

The rides are not working. Everything is covered with snow:

There is a monument to Kotovsky in the park - this is the second national hero of Transnistria after Suvorov. He either lived here, was born, or was hiding. The locals themselves are confused about the testimony:

Fun fact about Kotovsky: initially he had a saber in his left hand, but this saber is constantly stolen, so he usually stands unarmed:

Courtyards of Tiraspol:

For some reason they put barbed wire in the courtyards:

With pensions, everything is complicated. You can receive a Russian pension, or a local one. Russians do not pay bonuses for orders and medals, but Pridnestrovians pay, but the pension is lower. Therefore, each pensioner can decide for himself what pension to receive:

The average pension is a little more than 4 thousand rubles with our money:

And here residents pay for an elevator in the building. I asked everyone I met and no one had an elevator in their building. I have a suspicion that there is not a single building in Tiraspol with an elevator: