 Kremlin may exploit false flag operations in Transnistria to undermine Ukrainian grain exports. The Kremlin may try to exploit false flag operations in Transnistria to undermine Ukrainian grain exports along the western Black Sea coast to claim that Russia must protect ethnic Russians and Russian speakers and to stir up instability in Moldova. The Institute for the Study of War said this. The institute analysts recall that on the 10th of January, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it had summoned the ambassador of Moldova to express disapproval of Moldova's unfriendly actions, which included cases of discrimination against Russian citizens entering Moldova and politically motivated persecution of Russian and Russian language media. The Russian Foreign Ministry said menacingly that if such actions continue, the Russian side reserves the right to take additional retaliatory measures. At the same time, it is recalled that Russia in particular used such excuses when it carried out a military intervention in favour of separatist Transnistria in 1992. The ISW says the Kremlin probably tried to create information conditions for a possible false flag operation in Transnistria in April 2022 and February 2023 but failed partly for economic reasons. Experts emphasise that the Kremlin may consider the operation under a false flag in Transnistria as an alternative way to keep countries from participating in the Ukrainian grain corridor despite the weakening of the Russian presence in the western part of the Black Sea.