A series of attacks in Transnistria spark tensions in the region

A series of attacks in the Moldovan Republic of Transnistria (RMT), a Russian-speaking majority bordering Ukraine, has sparked tensions in that area.

“According to the information we have, the escalation attempts are related to forces within Transnistria that want war and are interested in destabilizing the situation,” the Moldovan president said. maia sandu

from Tiraspolthe capital of the RMT, its chairman Vadim Krasnoselskypointed to Ukraine as possibly responsible for the attacks, which resulted in no casualties.

“As the preliminary conclusions of the investigation show, the traces of these attacks lead to Ukraine,” Krasnoselski wrote on his Telegram account.

Transnistria’s interior ministry also reported this Wednesday of a shooting near the town of Kolbasna, which houses a large warehouse of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition, guarded by a Russian military contingent, and has blamed Ukraine. .

Transnistria broke ties with Moldova in the 1990s

Transnistria, an area of ​​barely half a million inhabitants, mostly Slavs, broke ties with Moldova after a armed conflict (1992-1993) with Russian help.

Since the end of that conflict, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, Moldova has advocated the integration of the two areas river dniesterwhich those responsible for Transnistria have always refused.

Below the Peaceful Settlement Agreement of the conflict in Transnistria signed in July 1992, Russia has deployed 2,400 troops to ensure peace in the area and to protect a vast arsenal of the Soviet Union’s 14th Army, currently estimated to contain some 20,000 tons of weapons and ammunition is present.

Moldova has demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops and the arsenal, but clashes with Moscow’s refusal, which ensures that the presence of its troops is legitimate and only when there is a political agreement between Chisinau and Tiraspol will it be possible to talk about the end of the peacekeeping mission.

Russian plan: Moscow reportedly plans to create a corridor to Transnistria

Russia is monitoring the situation in the region “very closely,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Tuesday. “The news coming out there is undoubtedly a cause for concern,” he added.

The worsening situation in Transnistria comes after a Russian high command admitted last Friday that Moscow’s military plan in Ukraine is to create a corridor from Donbas to the Crimean peninsula and expand it from therethrough southern Ukraine, to Transnistria.

“Control over the south of Ukraine is also a means of accessing Transnistria, where discrimination against Russian-speaking residents is also confirmed,” said acting commander of Russia’s Central Military District, Major General Rustam Minnekéyev.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhas assured that the Russian Federation is trying to destabilize the delicate situation that Transnistria is experiencing in order to facilitate the entry of its troops into that area.

The NATO He also warned this Wednesday of possible Russian false flag attacks after the explosions in Transnistria. A spokesman has assured the military alliance is “concerned” about the series of explosions experienced in Moldova in recent days.