russia. there are six states which fall into that category. moldova, georgia, ukraine. again there is a very real possibility here that would like to see moldova somewhat destabilised, would like to see conflict on its territory but again, the timing is suspicious. the russians do already have their hands full with other things so i m not sure how much we can really read into this incident right now. ~ ., now. we will leave it there, thank you now. we will leave it there, thank you very now. we will leave it there, thank you very much. - a ukrainian marine commander inside the azovstal steel works in the besieged port city of mariupol has made another impassioned appeal for rescue. serhiy vol ina says about 600 soldiers who ve been resisting russian attack are badly injured. he said many civilians are trapped with them. translation: in our group, - there are more than 600 wounded people, with different levels of severity. they badly need medical help. here, there are no conditions,
emma ashford, a senior fellow at the atlantic council s scowcroft center joins us now from washington. what is your analysis on this? were these explosions orchestrated by russia? that were these explosions orchestrated by russia? at this oint we orchestrated by russia? at this point we can t orchestrated by russia? at this point we can t say orchestrated by russia? at this point we can t say for orchestrated by russia? at this point we can t say for sure - point we can t say for sure what happened. we know the russians have blamed the ukrainians, ukrainians have blamed the russians, and the moldovan government has blamed what they call pro war elements which could be separatist groups in side the country so it s suited to say it is too soon to say but many people are assuming this is related to russia in some way and may be designed to sort of undermine the moldovan government at a difficult time. if this continues, what could a flareup in moldova mean in the country? flareup
flareup in moldova mean in the count 7~ ., , , ., country? well, so transnistria, where these country? well, so transnistria, where these explosions - country? well, so transnistria, where these explosions took i where these explosions took place, is one of the frozen conflicts of the post soviet zone. we ve seen conflicts flareup in other places recently, most recently in nagorno karabakh, there was a war between armenia and azerbaijan, so there is a potential that is good at hot again and this is not a good time for moldova, it is dealing with a lot of refugees from ukraine and there is a conflict on its border and it is a very poor state compared to its neighbours so this could be quite serious. neighbours so this could be quite serious. some officials in moldova quite serious. some officials in moldova have quite serious. some officials in moldova have said - quite serious. some officials| in moldova have said russian speakers in the country are being oppressed, the same exc
allies must double down in their support for ukraine. in the clearest indication yet of the uk s aims for the conflict, she said russian forces must be pushed out of the whole of ukraine. we can t be complacent. the fate of ukraine hangs in the balance. but let s be clear. if putin succeeds, there will be untold further misery across europe and terrible consequences across the globe. we would never feel safe again. so we must be prepared for the long haul. we ve got to double down on our support for ukraine and we must follow through on the unity that we ve shown in the crisis. mysterious explosions in transnistria, a breakaway russian controlled territory in moldova bordering on ukraine have raised fears that the ukraine conflict may be spreading. no casualties were reported, but a red anti terrorism alert is now in force, meaning heightened security in the territory, which broke away from moldova in a brief war in 1992.
speakers are oppressed but i do think, i m somewhat sceptical that the russians are going to engage in full scale military action. engage in full-scale military action. ., ., ., action. near moldova, in moldova action. near moldova, in moldova in action. near moldova, in moldova in the action. near moldova, in moldova in the future. . action. near moldova, in l moldova in the future. the russians are already struggling to field enough force to make gains in the donbas in ukraine that they are pushing for so if we are going to see further destabilisation, it will come from low level covert things rather than military assaults. and there are various layers here. there is crimea which russia annexed in 2014, it s fighting over areas like mariupol, fighting for the liberation of donetsk and luhansk, as it says. how does it play into this for ukraine? moldova is one of these post soviet republics which is in the in between area, the area between the nato members, eu members which hav