Moldovan President Maia Sandu said Chisinau plans to increase defense spending and improve the armed forces in the poorest country in Europe, Bloomberg reported.

"What's happening in Ukraine proves to us that war is now possible, and we need to defend ourselves," Sandu said in a video interview with the news website Lisa.md.

"We cannot have a big army because we are a small country, but we need an army that can ensure the safety of our citizens," Sandu added.

As noted, Moldova has allocated about 46 million euros ($48.6 million) for military spending in this year's budget.

Earlier, the acting commander of the troops of the Central Military District of Russia, Rustam Minnekayev, said that during the second phase of the so-called "military operation" in Ukraine, "access to Transnistria, where facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population are also recorded" will be provided. After this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador to the carpet.

On April 25, there were reports of explosions in Tiraspol. On April 26, it was reported that two communication towers blew up in unrecognized Transnistria.

The speaker of the Odesa RMA Sergey Bratchuk said that Russia was intensifying provocations in occupied Transnistria.

The STSU noted that Transnistria could not be ruled out as a territory that could be used by Russia for further actions against Ukraine.