Come on Gheorghe, come and help.
You can do it.
Valentina and Gheorghe are farmers.
Right now, they can only access about one hectare of their land.
The rest of it is located in the separatist region of Transnistria,
only a stone throw from their village of Cocieri.
They’ve been cut off from it since January, when the self-proclaimed
authorities in Transnistria imposed a ban on Moldovan farmers.
Since 2006, it's now the third or fourth time that this is happening.
It happened before that we didn’t have access to our land
and couldn’t work it for two or three years.
Imagine the difficulty of starting from scratch again!
Gheorghe’s and Valentina’s children left Moldova years ago.
They’re on their own as they try to prepare the land for a fall harvest —
but they don’t know how they will do it.
There's no hope.
We're old now, all our children left.
Why do you think they left?
Because of this situation here.
That 'situation' began more than three decades ago.
Moldovan forces fought pro-Russian separatists in the early 1990s.
Moscow has had Russian troops stationed in Transnistria ever since,
a de facto state: not recognized internationally
but supported by Russia.
Moldovans like Iurie and his comrade Valeriu fought during that war.
Now they’re worried that things will get worse again.
For the population here, freedom of movement is prohibited,
with the exception of the ferry.
Moving goods across this region is forbidden as well,
and so is freedom of expression.
This ferry is crucial — it lets Moldovans
get around Transnistrian border controls.
The Dniester river divides Moldova from the breakaway region –
except for a few Moldovan enclaves.
Iurie and Valeriu say it’s only a question of time for Russia
to use Transnistria to attack Moldova.
People are concerned.
From Putin you can expect anything.
Today he can say one thing, tomorrow he can do another.
We don’t have permission to film
in the separatist-controlled Transnistrian region.
Russian soldiers who are officially
on a peace-keeping mission keep watch.
But there are pro-Russian voices
in Moldovan-controlled enclaves, too.
Some here openly endorse Putin.
He will protect us,
maybe increase our pensions because we're getting little money here.
We want to be with Russia.
They help us.
The Moldovan government however wants to steer Moldova towards the EU.
They say Russia has been trying to destabilize Moldova.
And they say the newly- introduced customs
for goods from Transnistria is necessary.
I'm not denying the fact that the economic situation
in the Transnistrian region is bad.
But Moldova is not the one to be blamed for that.
It is not because of Ukraine.
It's bad due to the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Gheorge and Valentina say there is no real stability for them
as long as the conflict with the separatists persists.
But no one here knows what a solution might
look like for the people on both sides of the Dniester river -
or what plans Moscow has for the region.