The Soviet Time Capsule
Jay Ramesh
If you wanted to walk east from the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, to Ukraine, you’ll eventually reach the Dnieper river. As you cross the river, you might think you’re in a dream- a strange land that seems stuck 40 years in the past. A time capsule encompassing an entire region. You’ll see statues of Lenin, abandoned soviet factories, and military officers in Soviet uniforms driving around 1980’s trucks and saluting soldiers. And to top it all off, this strange land officially doesn’t even exist.
Welcome to Transnistria, a fully functioning Soviet time capsule. Buildings and cars from the 1980s dot the landscape while the Soviet hammer and sickle dot its flag. The breakaway-state even has its own national bank, passport, and currency. Although it declared its independence from Moldova in 1990, no UN members recognize its existence, including Russia, who sends it financial aid and even provides the state military forces.
This strange place arose from a conflict over language. Transnistria was linguistically split between Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Russian language speakers, so when Moldova declared independence and proclaimed the national language to be Moldovan, Transnistria rebelled and declared its independence. After a brief civil war, the region was granted autonomy under a ceasefire and remains de facto independent to this day.
Sheriff Holding is by far the most powerful corporation in the region. On November 29, 2020, the Renewal Party, heavily backed by Sheriff, secured 29 out of the country’s 33 parliament seats, and the company is already backing the president, Vadim Krasnoselski. The company owns supermarkets, gas stations, a tv channel, and even the stadium of Transnistria’s soccer team.
Recently elected Moldovan president Maia Sandu has publicly stated that one of her primary goals is to oversee the removal of Russian forces from Moldova. Though tensions haven’t flared in the region yet, this may be a long and difficult process, if at all possible. Despite having a fifth of the population of Moldova, Transnistria has an army more than double that of Moldova- 10,000-15,000 soldiers, supplemented by around 1,500 Russian troops. Additionally, Transnistria boasts a massive arms stockpile along with tanks and warplanes while Moldova lacks a single tank or warplane. Russian military forces also regularly drill with Transistrian forces, keeping the region prepared for any military situation.
Transnistria may not be officially recognized by any UN members, but it certainly has authority through brute force to enforce its own independence/autonomy. 40 years later, the region seems stuck in the 1980’s- a small piece of the Soviet Union still functioning to this day. As things may not change in the region anytime soon, those who travel from Chisinau to Ukraine will be able to step 40 years into the past whenever they cross through Transnistria- the state that technically doesn’t exist.