Before and after the Axis invasion, "Viaţa Basarabiei"s legacy in the newly created Moldavian SSR (covering most of Bessarabia) was contested by local Soviet officials. The successive deportations to the Gulag affected several former affiliates of the magazine, including Costenco (who had chosen to remain behind after the 1940 occupation) and Vasile Ţepordei. Having stayed behind in Soviet territory after 1940, Alexandru Robot adopted the tenets of Socialist Realism and mysteriously disappeared shortly after the Axis attack. His praise of Soviet power, concentrated in lyrical pieces such as "A înflorit Moldova" ("Moldova Has Blossomed"), is believed by researcher Iurie Colesnic to have masked his secret disappointment with the Soviet regime. In what has been described as a highly unusual occurrence, Robot had continued to publish articles in "Viaţa Basarabiei" between its relocation to Bucharest and the outbreak of war.