How did the Russians get to Transnistria, which is entirely surrounded by Ukraine on the east and Moldova on the west? They would have to cross Ukraine to get there from Russia.
My question as well - I sure am getting a geography lesson
Moldova used to be a part of the Soviet Union. When the USSR ceased to exist in 1991, the Soviet 14th Guards Army was stranded in Transnistria. It took the side of Russian separatists and has remained there to this very day as peacekeepers to protect the predominantly Slavic population, which is Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian.
It’s complicated, like every thing else in Eastern Europe. Ukranians and Russians are the same ethnic group, for the most part. Ukraine is actally the original Russian homeland. Most Moldovans are essentially Romanians, non-Slavs. Transnistria is a predominately Slavic part of Moldova that indentifies with Russia.
Ukraine is to Russia what the South/Confederacy are/were to America, fast forwarded a few hundred years.