Why is Russia now attacking the border crossings between Ukraine and Moldova?

Russia makes its threats through actions, not words. One need not follow Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, to understand whether something even worse than the all-out war that has been raging in Ukraine for four and a half years is about to be unleashed at the Kremlin’s behest. One simply needs to observe: Russia is doing exactly what it appears to be doing. Thus, before 24 February 2022, it was pointless to cling to the words of Vladimir Putin and his men; to predict the next moves, one had to observe the border between Russia and Ukraine, the massed Russian troops and military vehicles, and the meetings to decide on the recognition of the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. And indeed, the invasion began, without the need for too many words. Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine; his plans have not changed; he is ready to pound Ukrainian cities even harder and, once again, one need only look at his actions to understand just how far he intends to go. In recent weeks, Russian attacks have extended as far as the border between Ukraine and Moldova; this is no random route, but a decision taken to pursue four objectives. The border crossings with Moldova are used to reach Chisinau airport, which is located about four hours from the city of Odessa; Russian attacks on the infrastructure at these crossings aim to cut off the routes connecting Ukrainians to the rest of the world, thereby trapping them within the war-torn country. 

The second objective is to stifle the economy by blocking the land routes for grain through which Kyiv is attempting to replace the sea routes, which are little used due to Russian attacks; the third is to also shut down the route for the transfer of arms – not the busiest, but one of the viable ones; the fourth aims to instil a sense of panic amongst the Moldovan population as well, who are not only geographically very close to the war but continue to bear the brunt of it through drone incursions (six yesterday alone) and massive disinformation campaigns. Russia wants to close one of Kyiv’s borders and, whilst striking Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles, has intensified its war along the borders, extending it to all countries bordering Ukraine or Russia itself.

There is one feature that Kyiv and Moscow currently have in common: their arsenals of offensive weapons are full, whilst both lack air defence systems. But whilst for Ukraine it is a matter of life and death – the lack of interceptors to shoot down missiles resulting in civilian deaths during Russian attacks – for Russia it boils down primarily to a continuous weakening of infrastructure, which Moscow could put an end to in a simple way: by halting attacks on Ukrainian cities. It is on this point that the latest American diplomatic efforts are focusing. Putin’s intentions have not changed, and in practice he is demonstrating that he intends to draw Kyiv’s allies into the war – and he does not necessarily need missiles and drones to do so. A senior European official told "Il Foglio": “What we have seen are hybrid attacks – and not merely hybrid ones – which are continuing and which we assume will continue. Russia is trying to put our countries in a difficult position. I can state clearly that the European armed forces in general see no risk of an attack by Russia, and this assessment has not changed. What intrigues us is what will happen regarding mobilisation and how the situation will change. But as far as any threat to European NATO members is concerned, we see no indication of preparations to that effect.” Ukraine is awaiting further talks with the Russians, which could take place in September, but it is not taking its eyes off the bombs falling on its head. It looks at the facts, not the words.