Vessels from Russian ports have begun to arrive at the Moldovan Danube harbor of Giurgiulești. Questions about the ships were first raised by Andriy Klymenko, a Ukrainian expert on the militarization of the Black Sea, sanctions, and risk forecasting. In July, he noted that a vessel had reached Giurgiulești directly from the Russian port of Novorossyisk, a major naval base.

Since then, direct voyages from Russian Black Sea ports have been made by another four vessels in August and September, according to data collected through daily monitoring by the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, whose databases are regularly updated for public use. Klymenko said that the vessels were not subject to inspection by the Ukrainian or Romanian authorities, so they could have been carrying anything from standard general cargo to something more sinister. The shipments came as Moldova prepared to elect a president and before a key vote on EU membership on October 20.

Giurgiulești port has a direct railway connection to the Russian puppet state of Transnistria, which the Kremlin uses to interfere in Moldovan affairs.

Russia has been struggling to rotate the officer corps of its 1,500-man force in Transnistria and modernize its equipment. Russian officers have been prevented from transiting through Moldova since 2015 when the government said the force was on its territory illegally. The launch of Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine in February 2022 meant that the alternative land route was also closed. When the Kremlin sent officers via the Moldovan capital Chișinău in July 2022, they were turned away. Angry Russian protests followed.

To increase exports, there has been dredging work at the mouth of the Bystre Canal to increase the passage draft of vessels from 3.9m to 6.5 m. This opened access for “river-sea” type vessels to the Danube ports of Ukraine and Moldova, in particular Giurgiulești. The Danube Port of Giurgiulești (Portul International Liber Giurgiuleștior PILG), which is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or EBRD, gives Moldova access to the Black Sea. The dredging has likewise benefitted Ukraine at its ports of Izmail and Reni.