Operation Bessarabia: Moscow studies the attack to isolate Odessa

Call it “Operation Ishmael”. Because this is the ancient name of Izmail, the capital of Bessarabia: another lost land in the history of Europe that could soon enter Moscow’s plans. We are talking about the region on the Black Sea, nestled between Odessa, Moldavia and Romania: a piece of Ukraine populated by the heirs of the settlers deported by Stalin and where half of the inhabitants remained Russian-speaking.