Hacker News Reader

Comment by thejackgoode | Hacker News Reader

You might need to update estimations about Transnistria's mid-term availability

Weev went to transnistria, stayed the 1 year it takes to get the passport, and then somehow is living in Ukraine off that passport despite the fact it isn't even recognized by Ukraine. There's also several other 'microstates' that recognize Transnistria's passport, so presumably once you have it you can stay in one of those places. If a fugitive doesn't mind living in a bumfuck mountain or desert with nothing but a cow and a woman they'll probably be fine.

Is he actually still in Ukraine? Google says he was living in Kharkiv, but given it became a front-line city, I doubt he would've stayed.

I don't know. You could ask him. Look up @rabite. The dude is exiled from the banking system so I doubt he'd be too eager to give up his properties in Ukraine.

Not gonna lie, I thought Transnistria was a fictional place based on a play of words on "transit". What is it?

Transnistria is a sliver of Moldova that declared itself independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It's one of the tiny unrecognized statelets that's almost entirely propped up by the Russian government as a way of maintaining frozen conflicts.

(I really do mean sliver: it's 20 miles wide at its widest point; even The Gambia--a country which exists along the shores of the river of the same name--manages to get wider).

The conflict gained a resurgence of relevance in the past year after the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine, over fears that the Russian military might attempt to launch an invasion axis from Transnistria, or at least seek to establish a continuous corridor from Transnistria to Russia. And even more recently, the Moldovan governmental instability has also fueled fears that Russia might try to use Transnistria as leverage in Moldova.

It's a mess that's not important enough for anyone to fix. An international incident that has been frozen in time. One of the last surviving fragments of the cold war. Neighbouring countries recognize its documents because not doing so would be even more of a goddamn headache.

You can, with moderate determination, take a day trip there. https://www.mywanderlust.pl/daytrip-to-transnistria/

A narrow little breakaway state that used to be and/or still is part of Moldova. It borders Moldova and Ukraine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria

A breakaway part of Moldova, broadly aligned with Russia and/or the former USSR

You could do worse, sounds like a retreat. :-)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com