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    Moldova

    This “Country” is the Last Stronghold of the Soviet Union (Transnistria)



    Welcome to Transnistria. The breakaway country, recognised internationally as part of Moldova. Often dubbed the last stronghold of the Soviet Union ( USSR ), Transnistria, located between Ukraine & Moldova, is officially a frozen conflict zone and travel here used to be very difficult.
    After the breakup of the USSR, a conflict broke out between the new Moldovan state and the mainly Russian speaking majority slavic region of Transnistria ( Pridnestrovie / Приднестровье ). The conflict ended in a peace treaty in 1992 and despite officially being thought of as an autonomous region of Moldova, Transnistria & its people have, for all intents and purposes, been operating as a completely separate state ever since.
    This ‘country’, with its own army, borders, passports, tax and legal system, has fascinated us for years and whilst being in Chisinau, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to travel east to its ‘capital’ Tiraspol. Let’s explore Transnistria together!

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    40 Comments

    3. Vova Manko on

      That hatred towards Moscow was always present during the Soviet era, non-Russians always felt subjugated and oppressed under forced Russification.

    4. German Garbage Trucks on

      It's surely an interesting country id like to Visit one Day. But I only speak German and english so it will be pretty hard I guess?
      Also can you got there anyway ATM because of War etc?

    5. Boiling Water on the Stove on

      You also have to remember that Soviet propaganda proclaimed that all people of the USSR loved eachother as family. This was somewhat true in a general sense, but some regions of the USSR really didn't want to be part of the Union and saw themselves as being occupied, the Baltic countries for example. Also, this idea of "we're all one" was true for Slavic speaking people, but people from other regions with distinct local cultures saw themselves competing with the Russian language. Latvia for example went from a close to 95% Lativian speaking population to 60% Latvian speaking. The capital city turned from Latvian speaking to Russian speaking because Slavic speaking people moved into Latvia and replaced the local population. Remembering the USSR is more nuanced. Remember, the problem of Transnistria is a relatively recent problem. The area of Transnistria was originally Romanian speaking, it was due to population changes made by Stalin that Russian speaking people began to settle in the region. For a while this didn't cause problems, but the traditional local population eventually starts resisting it.

    8. Robert Perschmann on

      I have viewed nearly two hours of Julia and Matt so far. I love the warm hearted humanity of your attitude. I have been a friend of Russia since 1980. I was one of those anti-cold war activists. Several trips to USSR as tour escort. I was especially fond of Soviet Moldavia. You two are doing beautiful job of… humanizing… everything. I love you. This episode is my favorite so far. I always brought tourists to Crimea to fly in the face of the “scary winter syndrome.” I have not been to Siberia but I am a native Minnesotan. (Note on the general topic of travel. My wife and I have affection for UK and France as well.) Anyway you are a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ experience of YouTube for me. Thank you.

    13. Daisy67 on

      Total support for Transnistria. The USSR offered cheap housing, hospitals, a good education, public transport. Compare this with many Western countries where more and more queue for food, where there's a massive mental health crisis, chronic lack of investment in basic services. Us evil Socialists were right all along. And Transnistria deserves our support.

    21. BobbyD on

      what a shame to glorify soviet union after the sufferings of millions of peoples. Blaming others for a already broken system.

    23. billy stevens on

      I recently found you guys, and have loved travel channels for years. You two are so professional. The realism and honesty in your presentation make me feel like the three of us are exploring these cultures. Big Fan!

    29. Reanimation EAS on

      As an American, my views on Transnistria don't align with my government's policy of recognizing it as Moldovan territory. After 30 years of de facto separation there doesn't seem like there is a chance of reunification with Moldova. I doubt that Transnistria would join Russia either.

      A realistic solution is complete independence under the condition that Transnistria doesn't join Russia

    34. Red Ram on

      I could be wrong but wasn’t Stalin responsible for the deaths of millions of its citizens and internment of millions more in forced labor and the stalag after WW2 but I still see portraits and statues of him. What’s up with that?

    35. JP R on

      I have a close Russian friend whose family comes from Transnistria. Thé weird position of Transsnistriz is due to its history : Catherine II has forbidden Jews to install closer from central Russia. That explains why you can meet many jewish people in Kishinev. My friend is both jew, Bolshevist as her ancestors would be.

    36. JP R on

      My son studied is Stockholm and thus we had to spend time ik Sweden. We were not allowed to get internet line neitter a mobile phone line. To call up to France was very expensive or hard.

    37. Yegor Kolesnik on

      A little bit disappointed by the post cards: they didn't match my memory of Soviet post card art. Most of the rest looks remarkably good. The streets are clean, relatively little graffiti, nobody loitering suspiciously, nothing is that badly run down or in need of repair… It actually looks like not a bad place to live, if you don't mind the looming threat of open civil war, and minor inconveniences regarding banking and sim cards. Actually matches my childhood memory of Soviet Ukraine more than Moldova, Romania, Russia, or even Ukraine.

      Interesting thought, about those that fought, and what would they make of the world today… My father's parents died only a few years ago. They both survived the war, my grandfather fought at the liberation of Stalingrad. Mostly they didn't really understand what was going on. They were able to function, though retired and with help, but they didn't really understand things like income and prices, or what different groups were doing politically. They mostly just survived as comfortably as they could, without causing harm to anyone.

      The whole dissolution of the USSR happened very fast, and most of the citizens weren't asked their opinion or to vote. The various party elite divided and dissolved the USSR so fast there was largely nothing to protest for or against, because it was over before anyone quite knew what had happened. If it were possible to explain to the war veteran generation, that their country had largely stagnated, and then fell to internal divisions and corruption, wouldn't be an easy conversation. From the stories I grew up on, and the interactions I had with people, I don't think many of the people who truly believed in the ideal of Soviet Marxism, would be glad to learn how the reality developed, and the aftermath of it's end.

      On the other hand, there were always nationalists and other bigots in the USSR as there are in all other countries. Those people, maybe wouldn't be so disappointed, and may even feel vindicated that nationalism is on the rise all over the world.

      I am not pleased with where the world is headed.

      The old Soviet table spoon was a nice touch. Soviet spoons were much larger than western spoons. I have no idea why, but it was a slight shock when we first moved to the west. And again a few years later when a single Soviet table spoon inexplicably showed up in mom's kitchen. To this day, I don't know where it came from or why there was only one. Just an ordinary steel spoon of gargantuan proportions, stamped with a Soviet emblem on the underside of the handle. The soup ladle, which mom brought intentionally, and which I still use in my kitchen today, was of average size compared with western counterparts.

    40. david lagos on

      Your ant analogy was spot on… They were just living their lives but they're not in power so the outcome was not their decision… Sounds familiar. Take care.

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