Russia's Patronage Over Post-Soviet De Facto States: Protecting Compatriots or Geopolitical Interest in Transnistria?

Most de facto states have patrons. In Eurasia, Russia serves as such to Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria, as it did to Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. What motivates patronal politics? While constructivists look for answers by studying Russia's identity, representations and 'compatriot' policies and discourse, realists infer Russia's motives looking at Moscow's geopolitical interests. As a result, there is no unambiguous answer: is it about moral obligation to protect the brethren or about securing national interests? This article tests it empirically by analysing Russia's patronage over Transnistria between 2001 and 2009. It investigates the issue of Transnistrian external trade, which Moldova attempted to take control of - something that Transnistria considered as threatening its very survival. The analysis undermines claims about moral motivation as a driver of Russian patronage of de facto states, at least in Transnistria. Russia is clearly reacting to geopolitical changing game rather than to the compatriots' cry for help.