Northern Moldova - Soroca

 I drove up to northern Moldova today, primarily to visit the Castle at Soroca. This was one of the string of forts that defended the Dniester River border, initially built for the Moldavian princes and later for the Ottomans. 

It was built by Stephan the Great in 1499 to defend the river crossing. It was strengthened in the following century and saw a couple of epic sieges. It has been beautifully reconstructed, thanks to the EU's assistance.

Ukraine is just across the river; thankfully, it remains peaceful today.

I drove up to a bluff that overlooks the town, which has a church in the shape of a candle. It provides fantastic views, including the Ukrainian village of Tsekynivka, which has a couple of fields with solar panels. A clever way of getting around Putin's bombardment of the power stations. A decentralised grid is helping them keep warm. Not that they needed it today!

Back in the town, there was a memorial to locals who died in the Soviet era Afghan conflict. Topical given the news in the UK.

In addition to the WW2 memorial, there was one for the 1991-92 Transnistrian conflict in which several locals died. A nice balance to my trip on Tuesday to the other side. I accidentally tried to pay for a souvenir with Transnistrian Rubles, which did not go down well!

The journey took about two and a half hours on decent roads for a change. In 1944, the Red Army stormed across this area in the Jassy–Kishinev offensives. The Russians claim there was only one, but there were two. When you drive through the endless rolling hills, you can see why they cut through the Axis lines so quickly. There are few defensive positions here once you are across the Dniester. Perfect tank country.