[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] Major foreign media reported on the 23rd (local time) that Russia, which presented the 'second phase operational goal' in its invasion of Ukraine, is moving elite troops from the southern strategic port city of Mariupol to the eastern region.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, stated the day before that 12 to 14 Russian elite units have begun moving from Mariupol to participate in battles in eastern Ukraine. He also said that Russia has deployed 100,000 troops and mercenaries from Syria and Libya to the Ukrainian battlefield and is increasing troop deployments day by day.
Russia declared the day before that it had succeeded in occupying Mariupol and presented a second-phase goal to completely control the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and the south. Lieutenant General Rustam Minnekayev, Deputy Commander of Russia's Central Military District, said at the annual meeting of a military supply company association in Sverdlovsk Oblast near the Ural Mountains, "One of the tasks of the Russian army in the second phase of the (Ukraine) special military operation, which began two days ago, is to secure full control over the Donbas region and the southern region of Ukraine," adding, "This will create another exit for the Russian army to advance into Transnistria (Russian name: Pridnestrovie)."
Transnistria is a pro-Russian separatist republic that declared separation and independence in 1990 from Moldova, an Eastern European country, with about 30% of its approximately 500,000 residents being Russian. Russia has stationed thousands of troops there as peacekeepers under an agreement with Moldova signed in 1992.
If the Russian army occupies the entire southern region of Ukraine as planned, Russia is likely to complete a land corridor connecting Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed by force in 2014, as well as secure an additional route to Moldova's Transnistria. In this case, Ukraine's entire coastline would be blocked. In response, Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador to express "deep regret."
Regarding Lieutenant General Minnekayev's remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Russia's intentions, asserting that Ukraine is only the beginning and that Russia aims to occupy other countries besides Ukraine. In a video speech, he emphasized, "Who is next?" and said, "All countries and peoples must help us and fight alongside us because we are on the front line."
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