Ukraine's Special Operations Forces capture Russian soldier from Transnistria

Dense summer vegetation typically complicates combat operations, but it helped operators from the 3rd Detachment approach the enemy position undetected and attack it with gunfire, the SOF said.

The captured soldier turned out to be a citizen of the self-proclaimed Transnistria region in Moldova. In addition to capturing the soldier, Ukrainian forces seized enemy weapons, communications equipment, personal belongings, and valuable intelligence data about enemy forces.

Transnistria is a breakaway region in eastern Moldova with a pro-Russian administration that is not recognized by the international community. Russian troops have been stationed there since the early 1990s.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on June 28 that the European Union could raise the issue of withdrawing Russian troops from Transnistria if negotiations begin to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

Viktor Yahun, former deputy head of Ukraine's SBU Security Service, previously explained a likely reason behind Russia's simplified process for granting citizenship to Transnistria residents. He said it fits a familiar Russian pattern: first mass passport distribution, then rhetoric about "protecting citizens abroad," and eventually political or military pressure under the pretext that those citizens are supposedly under threat.