Putin confuses Transnistria with Belarus

President of Russia Vladimir Putin confused the flags of unrecognised Transnistria and Belarus.

The gaffe took place at the Seliger youth forum when the Russian leader was answering questions of young people from Russia and the neighbouring countries, rosbalt.ru reports.

“Whose is this flag with the hammer and sickle? Belarusians?” Putin asked and heard young people chanting “ Transnistria! Transnistria!”

A delegatio from Moldova's Transnistria region was present at the forum, but, as Rosbalt news agency reports, moderators didn't allowed its delegates to ask questions and invited the Serbia's representatives to speak.

It's worth noting that the flags of unrecognised Transnistria (the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) and Belarus really have much in common. Both consist of red and green stripes, but the Transnistrian flag also has the Soviet hammer and sickle as a symbol of succession of political epochs. Belarus's historical white-red-white flag was banned in 1995.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka initiated a referendum on May 14, 1995. As a result of the dubious referendum, Belarus received a new red-green flag resembling the Belarusian Soviet flag without Soviet symbols (the star, the hammer and sickle) and with the red pattern against the white background instead of the white pattern against the red background.