PURCARI, Moldova – Angela Dragan, chef of a famous Moldovan winery, has spent the past two weeks preparing food for the exodus of refugees fleeing the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, hosting at least 10 At her place. There but for the grace of God, she counts.

But grace can be fleeting, and so each day, Ms. Dragan brings her passport to work, ready to join the exodus if necessary. For now, she says, she won’t “for moral reasons – the refugees are coming and we have to help them”. But if the Russians advance towards Moldova? “We could leave at any time,” she said.

Across Moldova, a small, impoverished post-Soviet democracy next to Ukraine’s southwestern border, Moldovans are watching Russia’s advance on nearby Odessa — and packing their bags, just in case or. The war has already deeply affected Moldova: per capita, it has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than any other country, and many ordinary Moldovans have taken in refugees in their apartments. Now some Moldovans are wondering if and when they should join an exodus west that is already Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since the end of World War II.

“I have people who ask me every day, ‘If I go, where should I go?’ said Alina Radu, editor-in-chief of Ziarul de Garda, an investigative newspaper in Moldova. “And I have people who want to see examples of people staying, because they’re scared.”

Russia has said nothing about invading Moldova, and Belarus, its close ally, has withdrawn a map, shown at a briefing last week by the Belarusian president, which was marked with arrows suggesting an advance Russian planned in Moldova.

But the events of the past month in Ukraine, coupled with the weakness of the Moldovan military and the country’s checkered history, have persuaded some Moldovans that anything is possible and that it just makes sense to consider an exit strategy.

A Russian regiment is already stationed on Moldovan soil, in the Russian-backed separatist territory of Transnistria, where secessionists took control after a war in 1992. Moldova is closer to Ukrainian front lines than any other country not involved in the war. And Moldova has a long history of domination by foreign powers, including the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

For many Moldovans, it’s easy to imagine Russian armies invading Ukraine, currently just 100 miles east of Moldova, advancing west to Transnistria – or beyond.

“We have been swallowed by the Russians several times,” said Elena Ivanesi, 39, who fled Moldova on the first day of the war in Ukraine with her husband and two children, fearing another Russian invasion. Ms Ivanesi spoke by phone from a friend’s house in western Romania; she left her own home in the hands of a family of refugees from Ukraine.

Moldova is “in a very weak position”, Ms Ivanesi explained. “We don’t have the power to fight.”

While the Moldovan government and foreign diplomats say there is currently no evidence that Transnistria is being drawn into the war, the mood here is tense.

European ambassadors felt compelled to release a video on Tuesday proving that they were still in Moldova, amid rumors that they had left en masse. In a remote village in eastern Moldova, residents sparked a brief run on a bank last month over fears the war in Ukraine could spark violence in Transnistria, potentially cutting off their supply routes.

“On the one hand, we are witnessing an unprecedented unity and mobilization of the population to help the refugees,” said Alexandru Flenchea, political analyst and former deputy prime minister. “But on the other hand, people are scared.”

On a busy street in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, Veronica Soltan, a 70-year-old teacher, dragged a brand new suitcase along the sidewalk. If Russia invades, Ms Soltan said, she will immediately head for Moldova’s western border with Romania, where her son has promised to pick her up. Now she had a small blue suitcase to store her things.

“The Russians will conquer Ukraine, and after that they will come to Moldova,” Ms Soltan said. “They will make the map as it was in 1945”, when Moldova was part of Soviet Union.

Several people who had already packed their bags refused to be interviewed or give their full names, fearing they would be seen as cowards.

But for Ms Soltan, who then packed her bag with essential clothes, medicine and identity documents, her decision just made sense. “We have to be ready,” she said. “Because you don’t know when it will happen.”

Moldova is no stranger to emigration. Since leaving the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the country has experienced huge depopulation, with citizens moving abroad to escape a sagging economy and rampant corruption for better opportunities elsewhere. About a quarter of Moldovans now live outside the country, according to estimates by the United Nations Development Programme.

This in turn makes it easier for those still in Moldova to leave: they have a network of friends and family to stay with abroad. Around 40% of Moldovans also have Romanian passports, allowing them to settle anywhere in the European Union, the bloc Romania joined in 2007.

Some have already used these avenues.

The week the war started, VItalie Perciun, a Moldovan video producer based in Britain, traveled 1,700 miles across Europe to pick up his two daughters in Moldova, where they live with his ex-wife.

“We don’t know if Putin will attack Moldova, but there’s no reason to assume he won’t,” Mr Perciun said in a phone interview, as he drove his children home. Great Britain, somewhere on the road between Brussels and Brussels. Calais, France. “I said to everyone around me: if you want to leave, leave now,” Mr Perciun said. “Before the panic sets in.”

Government records suggest there has been only a slight increase in the net number of Moldovans who have left the country since the beginning of the war. More than 62,000 Moldovans left between February 24, the first day of the Russian invasion, and Monday, about 22,000 more than the same period last year. But the number of Moldovans returning to Moldova has also increased, by 17,000, according to data provided by the Moldovan Interior Ministry.

Many Moldovans say they intend to stay.

One of them is Mrs. Radu, the editor of the newspaper. She said she was proud to have remained in Moldova throughout its post-Soviet history, even though many others left. She wants to maintain her diary, even though doing so would put her in danger if Russia invaded.

“There is another way,” Ms Radu said. “Stay, fight and make life better where you are.”

Irina Perciun contributed report.