They are next? "We have to..."

They are next? "We have to..."

According to the Voice of America, for almost 30 years, the army of Moldova was underfunded. Also, Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. They declared themselves a militarily neutral state after gaining independence in 1991. However, the number of its soldiers constantly decreased and fell to around 6,000 soldiers.

Everything changed when Russia attacked Moldova's northern neighbor, Ukraine.

"We heard the first bombs that exploded in Odesa, Chisinau, because it was a cloudy day and the sound traveled far. All of Chisinau woke up in a panic, thinking bombs had exploded nearby," says Kent Logsdon, who took over as US ambassador to Moldova a week before Russia's February 2022 invasion.

He says the invasion was sobering, especially when word spread about the alleged crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. "People here were shocked. These are not the Russians they knew, the Russians they had worked with for generations and lived here. It kind of drove a wedge between what people thought about Russia and what they thought Russia thought about Moldova," Logsdon explained.

Moldovan Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi pointed out that when members of the pro-Western government in Chisinau saw the invasion of Ukraine and Russian war-plans pointing to targets inside Moldova, they realized that they should accelerate their plans to bring the Moldovan army into the 21st century.

"As we saw in their plan, heard their rhetoric, we were definitely the target and were considered the next target. That is why we are currently working hard to improve operational capability. I have only been in this position for two years, but during this period we managed to identify resources to increase the budget," he points out.

"About 90 percent of the equipment is outdated. Maintenance becomes very expensive. In certain cases, it is impossible to find spare parts because no one makes them anymore. My priority now is to modernize the equipment, in order to apply NATO standards," Nosatîi concluded.

General Sergiu Cirimpei, Deputy Chief of the Moldovan National Army General Staff, explains that the old tanks that Moldova possesses provide some protection, but not the protection that the current battlefield requires. He adds that now it is difficult to fix the situation in which nothing has been invested in the army for 30 years.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have pledged nearly $90 million in foreign military aid to Moldova to help its small army catch up. But upgrading even a small force takes years, so officials say that for now, Moldovan troops will have to rely on what they have.