The autonomous region of Moldova where most people are pro-Russian – ‘why do we have to only look to the West?’
For months, rising food and energy costs have brought protesters on to Moldova’s streets but while the cost-of-living crisis is biting, the government claims outside forces are fuelling the unrest.
The pro-Western leaders have accused Russia of deliberately stoking the anger by reducing gas supplies to push up prices, spreading propaganda and backing a plot to overthrow them.
Moscow and politicians from Moldova‘s pro-Russian ŞOR party dispute the claims.
“We are supporting the protest because life in our country became too difficult,” says Marina Tauber, ŞOR party’s vice president. “We as the parliamentary faction and the parliamentary party, we don’t feel this [Russian] interference.”
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu says they’re fighting a hybrid war and are under attack from Kremlin interference, which is aimed at destabilising Ukraine’s neighbours.
President of Moldova Maia Sandu
In the past year, they’ve experienced “an explosion in security threats”, according to the interior ministry – including hundreds of bomb hoaxes, a coup plot and an online disinformation campaign.
Monitoring group Watchdog MD says it has seen Russian disinformation rocket tenfold in Moldova since the war broke out in Ukraine.
The small team’s funding will run out next month.
Until then, they continue to compile lists of concerning content that have been shared thousands of times.
The posts range from fake polls comparing the president to Hitler to footage of an old military parade relabelled as Romanian troops moving towards the Moldovan border.
It says it’s all part of a propaganda war that Russia is driving to upset the peace.
“We are not under siege like the Ukrainians are, but we are feeling the pressure even from here, from Kyiv, you know. What I would say is the future of the country… lies at stake,” says Watchdog MD analyst, Andrei Curararu.
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Could Moldova be Russia’s next target?
Russia is a ‘strong country’
But public opinion is divided.
In the pro-Russian autonomous region of Gagauzia, many feel closer to Moscow than the West.
A recent poll showed 93.8% of respondents have a “positive” or “very positive” attitude to the Russian Federation.
The majority trusted Russian mass media over Moldovan outlets.
Comrat in Moldova
At the market in the capital, Comrat, no one I speak to believes Russia is a threat.
Cheese seller Valentina fondly remembers their time in the Soviet Union.
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Cheese seller Valentina is pro-Russia
“Do you believe Russia is trying to cause trouble and hurt Moldova?” I ask.
“No… all our lives we lived in Soviet Union and our country didn’t do anything bad to us,” she replies.
“And you trust President Putin?” I ask.
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“I believe in everyone… if a person is attacked, he has to defend his people,” she explains.
Shopper Leonid shares his views, saying: “I’m not happy with what is happening in Moldova.
Leonid says Russia is a ‘strong country’
“Why do we have to only look to the West? Why can’t we also look to Russia? It’s a strong country. You underestimate Russia. That’s why the West and Russia need to find a common language,” he says.
But Moldova’s leaders don’t share this trust as they continue to fight disinformation they say is aimed at spreading panic and unease.
Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.
Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.
Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.
Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).
Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.
The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.
A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.
A woman drinks from a public tap in India. Pic: AP
They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.
Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.
Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.
People stock up on water in India. Pic: AP
Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.
Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.
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Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.
More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.
Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
Read more:
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Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
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“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
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