2018: visit of Metropolitan Corneliu Titov of Moscow and All Russia to Moldova (Old Rite Russian Orthodox Church)

Or I pray, in Moldova and Transnistria, that’s what Titov said later. The Old Rite Russian Church was created several hundred years ago when Russians who did not accept the reforms of a patriarch moved outside the imperial center. Many settled in the Principality of Moldavia, Dobrogea and Bucovina, where their headquarters was also – at the White Fountain.

In 1940, when the USSR occupied Northern Bucovina, including Fântâna Albă, the clergy of the Old Rite Russian Church evacuated to Brăila, where the seat of the Metropolis is still today (which still has "of the White Fountain" in the name, at the decision of the metropolitan at that time, Siluan Kravtsov).

It’s just that the Russians didn’t want the Old Rite Orthodox in the USSR to belong to a metropolis "Romanian"so, at the end of the 80s, a Metropolis in Moscowto serve all believers in the USSR. The 2 metropolitans of Brăila and Moscow were in communion until 2022. The rift was caused by Metropolitan Corneliu Titov’s support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, using even harsher language than Kiril. Following his statements, churches in Ukraine left the Moscow Metropolitanate and joined the Brăila Metropolitanate (which made donations for Ukrainian refugees). Moscow relented and thus the rift was cemented.

In Moldova, the Old Rite Orthodox obviously belong to Moscow. Their center is Mazarache Church from Chisinauand the Moldovan bishopric is headed by Eumenie (sau Evmenie, habar n-am sincer) Miheeva Russian from Russia (although, when Miheev was elected, he expressed his intention to lead the Old Rite Orthodox from Moldova and a Lipovian from Romania), who often meets with Krasnoselski and supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the picture you have the meeting of Igor Dodon with Metropolitan Corneliu, when he came to Moldova. However, Corneliu felt much better in Transnistria, where he was heavily praised. Krasnoselski even told him that "here you are at home, because Transnistria is Russian land".