Western attention has been fixed on Ukraine as the field of Vladimir Putin's aggression in Europe. But now the Kremlin is turning its attention to small, impoverished Moldova, where Moscow controls a breakaway territory called Transnistria. It bears attention lest another Russian power play come to pass.

This week is the 10th anniversary of a bogus referendum held by the territory’s pro-Kremlin regime, in which 97.2% of residents demanded to be annexed by Russia. To mark the occasion, Transnistria's "president," Yevgeny Shevchuk - even Moscow doesn’t formally recognize his state - has issued a decree asking for full annexation. He also announced the formation of a committee to harmonize Transnistrian law with Russian law, and demanded a harmonization plan by November.

Transnistria is a sliver of land on the eastern side of the river Dniester, hence the name. The territory belongs to Moldova, but it emerged as a pro-Russian statelet soon after Moldova declared sovereignty in 1990 amid the Soviet Union’s collapse. Moldova’s campaign two years later to retake the territory resulted in a stalemate after Russia’s intervention.

Mr. Putin so far has kept mum on the decree, though it's unlikely Mr. Shevchuk would issue it without Kremlin approval. Russian media are enthusiastic about the annexation idea. So are the Kremlin-linked ideologues who believe that any part of Europe with pockets of Russian speakers properly belongs to the motherland. Roughly a third of Transnistria's 500,000 residents are ethnic Russian.

Moscow accuses Moldova and neighboring Ukraine of "squeezing" the territory. There is no love lost between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria, but the Kiev government denies a systematic blockade other than the suspension of military cooperation that followed Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine.

The exercises and Mr. Shevchuk's annexation decree suggest Mr. Putin is testing the climate in the West for a potential next move. Which is why the U.S. and European leaders must telegraph that any effort to make permanent Russia’s occupation of Transnistria will be treated as an illegal encroachment on Moldovan sovereignty and trigger sanctions.

Source: Wall Street Journal