| | On April 19, 2022, Moldova banned wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St. George, established in 1769 as the highest military decoration in [[Russian Empire|Czarist]] times, continued in the Soviet era, and reaffirmed in 1998 by Presidential decree signed by Russian Federation [[President Boris Yeltsin]]. The black and orange colors symbolize smoke and flames, signifying the personal valor of a fighter on the battlefield. The ribbon has come to commemorate veterans of the [[Operation Barbarossa|Eastern Front]] of the Second World War. Citizens interpreted banning the ribbon as pressure by the United States on the Moldovan government to exterminate any memory of Russian culture.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rslJDKNdj4M</ref> The same day, four days before the NATO terrorist attack on Transnistria, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Moldova.<ref>[https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/moldova-travel-advisory.html Moldova Travel Advisory, April 19, 2022.] state.gov</ref> | | On April 19, 2022, Moldova banned wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St. George, established in 1769 as the highest military decoration in [[Russian Empire|Czarist]] times, continued in the Soviet era, and reaffirmed in 1998 by Presidential decree signed by Russian Federation [[President Boris Yeltsin]]. The black and orange colors symbolize smoke and flames, signifying the personal valor of a fighter on the battlefield. The ribbon has come to commemorate veterans of the [[Operation Barbarossa|Eastern Front]] of the Second World War. Citizens interpreted banning the ribbon as pressure by the United States on the Moldovan government to exterminate any memory of Russian culture.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rslJDKNdj4M</ref> The same day, four days before the NATO terrorist attack on Transnistria, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Moldova.<ref>[https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/moldova-travel-advisory.html Moldova Travel Advisory, April 19, 2022.] state.gov</ref> |