Russia's Influence in Breakaway Territories in the Region

Russia's preferred presidential candidates in South Ossetia and Transdniestria, separatist regions of Georgia and Moldova, respectively, have both lost in their territories' elections in recent months. These breakaway territories of the former Soviet Union need a foreign patron to guarantee their independence, and Russia needs them as leverage against its former states. Ultimately, the developments in South Ossetia and Transdniestria do not represent a threat to Russian influence in those regions or a larger decline in Russian power in other separatist territories.