Romania rejects claims of amassing troops at its Moldova border

Romania's National Defense Ministry has warned about fake news circulated online about the alleged recent transfer of a number of air defense systems toward the border with the Republic of Moldova.

Bucharest massing troops and military equipment at its border with Moldova are part of "a fake news" campaign launched by the kremlin since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Romania journal reports.

"Falsely (and with the clear aim of causing panic), the video report of February 27, 2023, is presented as 'the movement of Romanian air defense systems to the border with the Republic of Moldova this morning,'" the Romanian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The ministry explained that, in fact the video used to spread this fake story on various online platforms (it features, among other things, HIMARS systems and Gepard air defense systems operated by Romanian military units) was shot in November 2022 in the center of Alba Iulia on the occasion preparations for the military ceremony during the celebration of Romania's National Day.

Many users who commented on the post "noticed that the footage was actually an old recording, and they also correctly indicated the actual shooting location, even urging users not to spread this false information."

Moldova is situated between EU- and NATO-member Romania and Ukraine, with which it shares a 1,200-kilometer border. russia maintains more than 1,000 troops in Moldova's separatist region of Transndiester.

russia has falsely claimed that Ukraine is planning to invade Transdniester, raising suspicions that moscow is looking for a pretext to annex the separatist region, as it did with Ukraine's Crimea in 2014.