Moldova: a country in turmoil.
This was the scene in March 2023.
For months people have taken to the streets
in this small republic which borders on Ukraine.
Pro-Russian and pro-European protesters engage in angry standoffs.
The war in Ukraine has polarized Moldovan society.
Fears ran high, right from the start of the war.
Sheer panic. Folks were afraid it would start happening here, too.
We didnít know what would happen next.
Moldovans felt threatened.
The word was their land was Putinís next target.
The warís really close. Things could end badly.
All the indications are there.
How real is the fear that Moldova might lose its independence?
Can this small country withstand the pressure from Russia?
Russiaís invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February 2022,
sparked fears in neighboring Moldova.
Would they be next?
The day after, the President went on TV.
Buna seara.
President Sandu, whatís happening in our region?
We have war in Ukraine and military activity
near the border of the Republic of Moldova.
Itís a dramatic situation for our neighboring country.
And for us itís extremely threatening.
The alarm was great but so was the willingness to help.
In an industrial area on the outskirts of the capital, Chi?inau,
we visit Anatolie Dicusarís company.
The entrepreneur has been helping
Ukrainian refugees ever since the war began.
He set up a clothing depot in his factory,
following a visit to a border crossing on the very first day of the war.
ìWhen we arrived there I was shocked
to see a woman dressed only in a nightgown,
with a blanket around her that had icicles hanging from it.
It was snowing and freezing cold - and in the middle of a field.î
I called up friends from my village of Co?ni?a.
Lots of cars set off from there and we brought the first 300 people there.
But after four days there was no more room.
We housed them at our place, my motherís and other relativesí.
Many in the village took in refugees.
A few months after the war began,
his firm started to suffer from the after-effects.
By the fall of 2022, inflation was running at around 30 percent.
His company makes machinery to process essential oil plants
and has clients in Western Europe.
We signed contracts and calculated our pricing before the pandemic.
During the pandemic prices rose and the war has only made things worse.
Metal and electricity cost twice as much now.
We can no longer get by on our calculated budget.
Life has also changed radically
for IT expert and video blogger Vova Karmanov.
When the war started, we stopped making music.
Before we made and published music videos.
My friends and I had a band,
but we havenít sung since 24 February 2022.
Now his music videos and travelogues seem like relics from a former life.
Life was great before the war.
Looking at this, I can hardly believe it.
Whyíd this have to happen?
I filmed travelogues in Moldova and abroad for ages.
But since the war broke out, Iíve lost all desire to do that.
Since then, Vova Karmanov has been more interested
in the political situation in Moldova.
I thought that Transnistria, the separatist region in Moldova,
is a bit like the Donbas.
I wanted to find out if there was a difference between these conflicts.
And whether it could lead to such hatred and war happening here.
So thatís how this video came about.
ìWhat is Transnistria?
Itís a region that broke away from Moldova in the 1990s.
The international community says it belongs to Moldova,
but Moldova has no control over it.
In 1992 a war took place there.
Russian troops have been stationed there ever since.
All this makes Transnistria comparable
to other hotspots in the former Soviet Union -
the Donbas, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.î
Like other former Soviet republics,
Moldova declared its independence in 1991.
Moldova borders to the north, east and south on Ukraine.
And to the west on Romania.
This small country is also one of Europeís poorest.
On the eastern side of the Dniester river
lies the self-declared Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic,
better known as Transnistria.
Itís governed by separatists loyal to Moscow.
In Chi?inau, the Moldovan capital,
pro-Russian governments wielded power for most of the last three decades.
But now Moldova has a more EU-oriented head of state.
In November 2020, Maia Sandu was elected president.
Her most important campaign promise was to tackle corruption and poverty -
two of the countryís most pressing problems.
But Sandu came to office in difficult circumstances.
During this time, weíve had to manage many crises.
After the election of the new parliament
and the forming of the government,
we found ourselves confronted with an energy crisis,
due to rising natural gas prices.
There are economic and social problems,
because this war has had severe economic repercussions
for the Republic of Moldova.
Thereís great discontent in the population.
Especially among people in rural areas
whoíve been most affected by the war in Ukraine.
The village of Tarasova, on the western bank of the Dniester,
has been home to the Cernei family for generations.
Elena Cernei and her siblings suffer from the poverty
thatís only getting worse here.
And the war is too close for comfort.
Behind that hill, not far from here, is Ukraine.
We were extremely concerned when the war started.
We heard explosions in the distance.
We were scared, and had our suitcases packed and ready.
We didnít know what would happen next.
Yet even beforehand, life here wasnít always easy.
Living in a divided country has an impact on their daily lives.
When Elena Cernei visits relatives on the other side of the river,
she must go through a border control.
The pensioner misses the old days,
before the land and its people were separated.
The village of Belochi, on the bank opposite, belongs to Transnistria.
Itís a Russian-speaking village.
And nearby is Stroie?ti, a Moldovan village.
Thatís how we lived, with one another.
There was a lot of exchange across the river -
even in the winter, over the ice.
The ice was so thick that even cars could drive across it.
In the summer, people went by boat. It all worked quite well.
But for the last 30 years, the river has served as a border
which can only be traversed at specific crossings.
On the Dniesterís eastern bank, in the heart of the separatist region,
lie four villages which remain under Moldovan administration.
Anatolie Dicusar comes from this area.
When he visits his home village of Co?ni?a,
he must pass a checkpoint staffed by so-called Russian peacekeepers.
For us, the residents of these villages,
itís annoying to have to drive through here slowly,
because sometimes they perform checks and harass people.
The checkpoints should have been removed long ago.
I think Co?ni?a is typical of the Republic of Moldova in that
all the ethnic groups in our country are represented here.
Many of the tradespeople in the village
were ethnic Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Gagauz, Kazakhs or Azerbaijanis.
To this day we live with a variety of ethnic groups.
This is Anatolie Dicusarís childhood home.
When he was growing up here, Moldova still belonged to the Soviet Union.
For as long as he can remember,
language has been a source of conflict in his country.
Mama, what language did you speak as a child?
Moldovan!
Now itís Romanian, back then it was Moldovan.
They wouldnít let us speak Moldovan.
There were a lot of Russians at the factory.
We werenít permitted to speak in our language.
The Russians were always putting us down.
What did they say?
They called us vermin, alcoholics...
...dirty Moldovans.
But the animosity goes beyond language.
Poor economic conditions have also caused strife.
Moldovans hoped independence would boost the economy
and better their lives.
But, so far, theyíve reaped no benefits.
People are hugely disappointed
because we stumble from one crisis to the next.
In the last 30 years we havenít experienced
any lengthy periods of stability or development.
As a result, people no longer trust the government,
no matter whether itís pro-European or pro-Russian.
Itís a total letdown.
Many people in this area are pro-Russian leaning.
I think theyíre being manipulated
because they only watch Russian TV stations.
I have no other explanation.
Thereís disappointment and the propaganda simply works very well.
How this disappointment and discontent could be instrumentalized
became evident in September 2022.
Then busloads of people from across the country arrived in the capital
to protest against the pro-European government.
These demonstrations were financed by the pro-Russian opposition.
A tent camp was set up in front of the parliament for the paid protesters,
so they could stay around the clock.
On this afternoon, the crowd suddenly surged
towards the entrance of the Presidential Palace.
They demanded the resignation of President Maia Sandu,
they chanted, ìWe are the people!î
This must stop! We demand your resignation! Resign!
The crowd parrots the pro-Russian propaganda:
That itís not the war thatís driving inflation,
but the Moldovan government.
Since Maia Sandu came to power we can barely survive. Prices have soared.
I buy a bottle of kefir and some bread and live from that for three days.
She should crawl to Putin on her knees,
like a cockroach, and beg him for gas.
Putin is really for the people.
He wages war but doesnít kill any civilians.
Iím for Russia and Putin
because I can see that he does everything for the people.
Iíve often been underway in Ukraine and havenít seen any acts of war.
The war only takes place on TV and Facebook.
Just how much outside influence is behind the protests?
Moldovaís President takes a clear stance.
The protests weíre experiencing today
are organized by corrupt people whoíve stolen a lot from this country.
They let our land become impoverished, then fled.
And now theyíre using the poor,
by giving them a bit of the money theyíve stolen from them.
Meanwhile theyíre leading luxurious lives abroad
and using people to destabilize the situation in this country.
Like dubious politician Ilan Shor,
whoís said to be funding the protests.
Shor is a thief! Maia Sandu is our president!
Shor, donít forget: You belong in jail!
Iím here to defend our government.
These folks are paid to be here.
Theyíd kill their own mother for cash!
Moldovan society is deeply divided.
And the effects of the war are becoming increasingly evident
in this far from wealthy country.
Moldova was almost completely reliant on Russian gas.
But Russiaís largely state-owned firm Gazprom hiked prices
while drastically reducing deliveries.
Last fall it threatened to cut off Moldovaís gas supply altogether.
Electricity was often in short supply, too.
Add to that the challenge of caring for the influx of Ukrainian refugees.
Close to 100,000 of them have been living in Moldova for months -
a huge number, given Moldovaís total population is just 2.6 million.
The country lacks the resources to solve all these problems on its own.
Which is also why Moldova applied to join the European Union
shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In June 2022 Moldova was granted EU candidate status.
And in the EU Parliament,
Maia Sandu was lauded for her pro-European stance.
This war was caused precisely by geopolitical designs:
to reshape the region, to divide it into spheres of influence,
to seize territory.
We support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,
as we always did.
Crimea is Ukraine. Donbas is Ukraine. Kyiv is Ukraine.
Moldova is strongly determined to stay part of the free world.
We are part of Europe.
Yet Moldova is still far from reaching European standards -
especially in rural areas.
To this day, the village of Tarasova has no running water.
Elena Cernei has never known things any other way.
During the drought this summer there was hardly any water in the well.
And if I take 3 or 4 bucketsful,
the neighbor will only be left with muddy water.
Thatís how it is in the summer.
The village does have a water station
that pumps water out of the river for an industrial firm.
Local residents were also supposed to have access to it.
But only the neighboring village does, which is no coincidence.
Our village of Tarasova remained without water.
Then another mayor came and said
we should collect funds to realize the project.
I was the one who went to people and collected the money.
A year later, still nothing had changed.
I asked the mayor to return our money if it wasnít going to work,
but he said the project was now completed
and he couldnít give the money back.
Elena Cerneiës experience is no isolated case.
Many such instances of corruption have made the people here bitter.
While a few get rich, most Moldovans are growing poorer.
Since gas prices have shot up,
Elena Cernei cooks on the wood stove in her courtyard.
Her pension is only around 100 euros a month.
So she and her relatives must rely on themselves and each other to get by.
We have children living abroad who help us with money.
From that we buy what we need.
We couldnít survive a week on our pensions.
Theyíre thankful for the assistance but miss their relatives.
My son lives in the Czech Republic.
My brotherís in Moscow. My cousins, too.
My sister has a daughter...
Yes, I have a daughter in Italy. She married someone there.
We rarely see each other. Thatís life, these days.
People leave, the young people leave
because here thereís no infrastructure.
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Itís also this lack of prospects that angers people.
The unrest in Chi?inau went on for weeks.
It was an open secret that people were being paid to protest,
with set daily rates and a bonus for staying overnight.
The police kept an eye on developments but didnít intervene.
These demonstrators support populist politician Ilan Shor.
Heís been convicted of stealing a billion dollars from Moldovan banks.
The moneyís vanished and Ilan Shor has fled the country.
Heís been sentenced to 15 years in jail in absentia.
Only a few passersby dare to say this to the protesters.
Why isnít Shor here with you? He robbed three banks.
I donít believe that.
Since he entered politics, heís never forgotten the people.
We elected Maia Sandu.
Did the people elect her?
Yes.
The people are here.
We agree with her.
Only you.
No, others too.
Where are the others?
Theyíre working. Youíre not, yet youíre being paid.
400 Lei per day. 2,000 for the night.
You know nothing.
Why arenít you working?
Cause Iím here.
Because the moneyís flowing.
Where do such deep divisions come from?
We noticed that, in the tent camp,
a screen was showing televised propaganda all the time.
Ilan Shor is omnipresent.
The station TV6 is owned by one of his supporters
and disseminates pro-Russian propaganda.
The content is similar to whatís shown to people in Transnistria.
Weíre not allowed to film, officially, in this separatist territory.
Weíre only allowed to visit as tourists for a maximum of 10 hours,
so weíre filming with a hidden camera.
Tour guide Maxim Ciumac lives and works in Transnistria.
We contacted several tour guides, but he was the only one
willing to show us around under the circumstances.
Our media doesnít report about the protests in Chi?inau.
We have our own politics, our own president,
the Supreme Soviet, our own power structures,
from the justice system through to the executive.
What happens on the other side of the river doesnít affect us.
Transnistria is closer to Russia in spirit. Moldovaís closer to Europe.
Around 500,000 people live in this breakaway region,
which is politically and economically reliant on Russia.
Most of the people here also have Russian citizenship.
Transnistria is sparsely populated, and people mainly live from farming.
Here, the Ukrainian border is never far away.
You can see the border posts.
This is the border strip between Transnistria and Ukraine.
There are border patrols here, like in every county in the world.
1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed in Transnistria.
We head for the Cobasna ammunition depot.
Itís thought to be one of the largest in Eastern Europe,
housing an estimated 20,000 weapons.
No one knows whether Russia plans to use them some day - or against whom.
Itís a little place which is only known
because of its ammunition depot, that was built during the Soviet era.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Transnistria inherited it.
Itís closely monitored by our justice department and Russian peacekeepers.
A lot has been said about dismantling the depot.
I donít think thatís possible right now,
without provoking people on one side of the river or the other.
We canít solve the Transnistria conflict as long as
the Russian military remains on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
We, the countryís rightful institutions,
have been demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops for decades.
We also demand the destruction
of the weapons stored in Cobasna, which pose a great danger -
not just for the Republic of Moldova, but for the entire region.
I wish Transnistria would become independent.
Transnistria must become independent.
Over the last 30 years, peopleís views have changed.
The language is also an obstacle
because many people here donít speak any Romanian.
Here everyone speaks Russian.
In 1992, the Transnistria War
led to Transnistria breaking away from Moldova.
Reminders of this time can still be found
at the border to the separatist territory.
In Cosnita, heavy fighting took place,
with the Russian army and separatists loyal to Moscow on one side,
and those defending Moldova on the other.
These are the traces that remain from those times.
Guys drilled these holes for shooting.
You can see the distance between them, around 4 meters,
because there werenít so many soldiers.
People were also stationed on the roof of the building.
This was the villageís center of defense.
Whatís happening in Ukraine now is familiar to me.
Back then we had had lots of refugees who fled to Chi?inau or Romania.
I can well remember peopleís terror and fear.
Whatís happening now affects me quite deeply.
Anatolie Dicusarís cousin took part in the fighting back then.
The separatists approached the village and shot into the air
with their machine guns, to frighten the residents.
The next day we went to the police station
and they gave us four machine guns, because we had nothing.
We used these weapons to mount our defense.
The police sent in reinforcements from Chi?inau,
and thatís how we were able to hold off the separatists
and not let them into our village.
In 1992 the armed forces of the young Republic of Moldova
consisted of novice soldiers and volunteers.
For the older generation,
the memory of these dramatic times is still vivid.
The first time I went to the frontline,
to bring food, I got to know a policeman.
He accompanied me. No one else would go there.
I said: Iím not afraid.
When we arrived there, the boys were sitting in the trenches,
making fire from tree branches, and drying their clothes and socks.
You couldnít feel anything but pity for those poor boys sitting there.
How could I not bring them dinner?
One night a lot of separatists came with machine guns.
They fired the whole time.
There was so much blood that it flowed down the street.
The Transnistria War was short and bloody.
Co?ni?a remained Moldovan.
Transnistria broke away and oriented itself towards Russia.
The ceasefire agreement has held since it was signed on 21 July 1992.
But some 30 years on, war once again threatens Moldovaís fragile peace.
Just how much the war in Ukraine affects Moldova became clear
when Russia announced a partial mobilization of military reservists
in September 2022.
That meant young Moldovan men with Russian citizenship could be drafted.
Deserters.
Thatís what my acquaintances from Russia are now being called.
Even those with Moldovan citizenship had a hard time leaving Russia.
There were long lines.
Their dual citizenship didnít exempt them from the mobilization.
They were very nervous.
Hundreds of thousands of men deemed fit for military service left Russia,
for fear of being called up.
Most fled to neighboring countries, to Kazakhstan, Armenia or Georgia.
Vova Karmanov documented the exodus for his blog.
A day before the mobilization took effect,
I was at the only border checkpoint between Russia and Georgia,
where there was a lot of activity.
I spoke with people there
and later with a few Russians who made it to Tbilisi.
Thatís what this video is about.
Thatís the scene at the border.
The Russian mobilization also created
a potentially volatile situation for the Republic of Moldova,
especially where Transnistria is concerned.
There is the danger of a mobilization of Moldovan citizens
in the countryís eastern districts.
To prevent such actions, weíre examining the possibility
of revoking the Moldovan citizenship of those who hold citizenship
of both the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation
and who fight on the side of the aggressor.
I donít know exactly what the leaders of Russia
and other countries are after, but these conflicts are very similar.
Itís no coincidence that weíve all been divided:
Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
For Vova Karmanov, the idea that Russia is systematically dividing
these post-Soviet societies is as obvious as it is disconcerting.
In October 2022, the war in Ukraine came even closer to Moldova.
Parts from a Russian missile fired at Ukraine
landed in a Moldovan village near the border.
The blast waves burst windows in several houses here,
in northern Moldova, but no one was injured.
Ukraineís anti-aircraft system had shot down the Russian missile.
President Sandu came to see the situation for herself.
The missile came from Ukraine. Whatís Russia got to do with it?
We need to differentiate between whoís supporting the war and who isnít.
We wonít support the war.
Whyís power four times cheaper in Ukraine?
Ukraine has no electricity!
In Kyiv and other cities, thereís no light, no water, no heat.
In the winter, the Molodovan government
will provide compensation for heating costs.
Not for everyone.
Why not? Last year it was paid and this year itíll be even more.
People get that, but weíre suffering.
This winter will be tough, due to the war.
Because prices have risen due to the war.
Weíre a small country and need to stick together in these tough times.
We can do it.
Thank you!
Meanwhile, the tent camp in front of the parliament
has been cleared by the police.
But the problems wonít be swept away so easily.
In November 2022, the energy crisis grew worse.
Following massive Russian attacks on the Ukrainian power system,
Moldova was also experiencing electricity shortages and blackouts.
Only thanks to financial support from the international community
could the Moldovan state compensate pensioners and low-income earners
for the winterís high energy costs.
Still, life remained a struggle for most.
Entrepreneur Anatolie Dicusar had to suspend production at his company.
Heating and energy costs were too high,
and the order situation was too uncertain.
Weíre in a kind of hibernation.
At the moment thereís no progress, nothing!
Weíre all waiting for something, but we just donít know what.
Thereís no stability, as far as our business goes.
We have a few contracts, but theyíre on hold
because people are waiting to see what happens.
Hardly any investments are being made.
Itís a big problem and means we canít develop.
Despite the bleak economic situation,
Anatolie Dicusar still supports Ukrainian refugees.
But for how much longer?
He, too, needs to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
In February 2023 Moldovaís stability looked to be increasingly threatened.
President Maia Sandu revealed details
of an alleged Russian plot to overthrow her pro-European government.
She was alerted to the planned coup by Ukraine,
which said it had intercepted Russian intelligence.
The plan included sabotage and militarily trained people
disguised as civilians to carry out violent actions,
attacks on government buildings and taking hostages.
Through violent actions disguised as protests by the so-called opposition,
the change of power in Chi?inau would be forced.
In March 2023, a new wave of pro-Russian street protests began.
This time the issue was Moldovaís official language and what itís named.
Parliament voted that it should no longer be called ëMoldovaní,
as it was during Soviet times, but rather ëRomanianí.
It was another step taken by parliamentís pro-European majority
to distance itself from Moldovaís Soviet legacy
and with it, from Russia too.
Vova Karmanov observes the protests in the capital with concern.
The situation in the country is worrying.
The languages were always at the forefront,
theyíre a source of irritation.
The warís really close. Things could end badly.
All the indications are there.
If someone is aiming to aggravate the situation, itís already escalated.
Iím quite concerned to see this.
Romanian is our only language!
Weíre Moldovans. Moldovan language!
Traitors! Our language is Romanian!
Moldovan!
This shows the polarization and how nerves are frayed.
My conviction that Moldova will be drawn more deeply
into the conflict has grown this year.
At the start of the war, the fear was great.
Since then, weíve unfortunately grown used to the war.
Now Iím calmly talking about the fact something could happen here.
Is Russia really working to promote conflict in Moldova,
in the hopes of bringing down its pro-European government?
Reports about a Kremlin strategy paper containing a concrete action plan
to destabilize Moldova assert just that.
Weíre not threatened with military aggression today.
But precisely because Russia cannot reach our borders,
the Kremlin is waging a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova.
At the same time, good things are also happening.
Weíve managed to make it through the winter, despite Gazpromís blackmail,
despite the fact that prices were very high,
despite the destabilization attempts and, letís call a spade a spade,
despite Russiaís attempts to bring down
a democratically elected government.
I want everyone to understand:
Our only route to prosperity, peace, freedom and stability
is membership in the European Union.
But Moldovaís eventual accession to the EU is still far off.
And since the war in Ukraine began,
itís become clear that Russia isnít prepared
to stop exerting its influence on this small republic.
Moldova will be fighting for its future for a long while to come.