Russia-Ukraine war: Moldova to provide aid to Ukraine, joins West in sanctioning Russia

As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 64th day with Ukraine showing tough resilience against Russian forces and Vladimir Putin warning countries against interference in Moscow's actions in Kyiv or face a "lightning-fast" response from the Kremlin, Moldova has decided to provide assistance to war-ravaged Ukraine and join western countries in imposing sanctions against Russia.

Russia-Ukraine war: Moldova to join EU sanctions on Russia, provide aid to Kyiv

According to a report published on jurnaltv.md, Moldova has announced that the state will send qualified sappers to Ukraine to clear the liberated settlements, as well as humanitarian packages to the affected Ukrainians, will also be provided. The announcement was made by the President of the Republic, Maia Sandu, in a comment on Jurnaltv.md.

She added that Moldova will join the economic sanctions against Russia imposed by the EU countries. This comes after "mysterious" multiple explosions rocked Transnistria, an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. 

As per BBC, separatist authorities have blamed Ukrainian soldiers for the attack but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted it on Wednesday, arguing that it was launched by Russian attackers as they were advancing to Transnistria to use it as a military platform for further operations against Ukraine.

Not long ago, Sandu had clarified her country's stand in the ongoing war. On April 2, she announced that the Moldovan government will maintain its neutral stance and will not join Western sanctions targeting Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict.

"There are certain things that we must provide for our citizens. She added, reported TASS, "If we leave the country without fuel and destabilise the situation here, it won't be helpful to anyone," she said, adding that "neither Moldova, nor Ukraine, nor our Western partners" will benefit from a situation of this kind.

Earlier, she had also mentioned Moldova's strong dependence on fuel deliveries from Russia. "Can we afford to leave our country without natural gas or electricity today? For the sake of our citizens and for the sake of 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, including 50,000 children, we can't."

Russia-Ukraine war

Russia launched a full-fledged military attack against Ukraine on February 24, and since then, it has been relentlessly attacking the Ukrainian cities, resulting in the killing of thousands of civilians. According to the report shared by Ukraine's armed forces on April 28, as many as 22,800 Russian soldiers have been killed in this war, along with 187 planes, eight boats, and 970 tanks, among other losses. However, the Russian defence department has not confirmed the total killings of their Armymen.

Image: AP