Rising tensions in Transnistria amid war in Ukraine
A girl sits on a Soviet tank monument in Tiraspol, capital of the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, on October 31, 2021 (Illustrative image).
AP - Dmitry Lovetsky
Text by: Tancrede Chambraud Follow
6 mins
Pro-Russian authorities in the separatist region of Moldova on Wednesday denounced fire from Ukrainian territory overnight.
This is the fourth reported incident of violence in the territory in just three days.
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The shootings denounced by the separatist entity would have taken place on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
"
Last night, several drones were spotted over the village of Kolbasna,"
Transnistria 's
"
Ministry of Interior" said in a statement.
The target, according to the pro-Russian authorities: a city housing a large arms depot, dating from the Soviet period.
"
Shots were fired in the direction of Kolbasna from Ukraine
," the ministry added.
“
The traces of these attacks lead to Ukraine
”, also assures the Russian government agency TASS Vadim Krasnoselsky, the self-proclaimed president of the separatist region.
“
I assume that those who organized this attack aim to draw Transnistria into the conflict.
There were no casualties, according to authorities' reports.
The event is far from isolated.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, tensions have been rising in the region, fueled by the presence, since 1992, of Russian soldiers on the ground of the separatist region as part of a peace operation .
But in recent days, these tensions have reached an unprecedented level.
Three days of violence
On Monday, several explosions are heard in Tiraspol, the "capital" of Transnistria.
The headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security is targeted in what appears to be a grenade launcher attack.
Police in the separatist region do not count any injuries.
Tuesday, the situation is tense a little more.
Two "
powerful
" radio antennas, which relayed pro-Russian messages just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, were destroyed in two explosions 25 minutes apart, according to the Interior Ministry.
Again, no residents were injured, according to local authorities.
A view of the antennas of the Pridnestrovian Radio Center, also known as the "Grigoriopol Transmitter", destroyed by two explosions, near Mayac, in the self-declared breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova, April 26, 2022. via REUTERS - TRANSDNIESTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTR
At the same time, the Security Council of the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria denounced a "
terrorist attack
" against a military unit near Tiraspol.
The terrorist level alert is raised to its maximum level, the “red level”, without the separatist authorities revealing precisely the security measures deployed on the territory.
After these announcements by the Transnistrian authorities, Moldova urgently called together its security council on Tuesday.
The incidents in the strip of land that stretches along the Ukrainian border raise fears of a spillover of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict into the Eastern European country.
Moreover, Chisinau had already accused Russia in mid-April of trying to recruit soldiers from among the inhabitants of Transnistria, whose administration has been loyal to the Kremlin since the breakup of the USSR in 1991. Moscow still has a base there. and a permanent force of some 1,500 soldiers, as well as a stockpile of nearly 20,000 tons of ammunition.
With its own currency and its own security forces, this territory, which has around 500,000 inhabitants, is highly dependent on Russia, which provides it with free gas.
►
To read also:
Moldova, the Transdniestrian threat
The fear of a contamination of the conflict in Ukraine
Former Soviet republic, Moldova fears to be the next target of Moscow following the accusations of a high-ranking Russian.
General Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of the forces of the Central Russian military district, had earlier considered that the Russian-speaking population of Moldova was the victim of "
oppression
", one of the pretexts invoked by Moscow to legitimize its interventions in Ukraine. in order to "
defend
" the Russian minority.
Remarks "
without foundation and in contradiction with the position of Russia in favor of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country within internationally recognized borders
", had then dryly replied the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking on the explosions in Transnistria, Moldovan President Maïa Sandu said at a press conference that this series of attacks was an attempt to escalate tensions and accuses the "
pro-war factions
" of the territory.
A woman walks past the headquarters of the Russian Forces Task Force in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria, Moldova, November 1, 2021 (illustrative image).
AP - Dmitry Lovetsky
"
Russia wants to destabilize the Transnistria region, which suggests that Moldova should expect to receive
'guests'", adds on Twitter the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mikhaïlo Podoliak, referring to the Russian soldiers who invaded the Ukraine since February 24.
Ukraine's deputy defense minister accuses Russia of being ready to use Transnistria as a springboard to attack Moldova or the rest of Ukraine, as Russian troops and its separatist allies from the self-declared republics of Donetsk and of Luhansk are now concentrating their efforts on the east of the country.
The threat is all the greater for Ukraine as the separatist region is only 40 kilometers from the major port in the south of the country, Odessa.
It is this scenario, more than that of a destabilization of Moldova, that experts fear, like Florent Parmentier.
For the secretary general of the Sciences Po Center for Political Research (CEVIPOF) and co-founder of the prospective geopolitics site Eurasia, interviewed by RFI, "
if the Transnistrians were to go in one direction today to create a conflict, it would not be not on the side of Moldova but rather on the side of Ukraine.
With one restriction despite everything:
[...]
why would Transnistria act now in Ukraine, if it had not deemed it relevant to do so before.
»
Moldova is a State which, by its Constitution, is neutral.
Consequently, it has not invested heavily in its military for the past three decades.
It has only a few MIGs and a few troops.
(…) Moldova is not ready, on its own, to face military consequences.
Florent Parmentier, Secretary General of the Sciences Po Center for Political Research (CEVIPOF)
Romain Lemaresquier
Russia says for its part that it wants to avoid a scenario that would force it to intervene in Transnistria, says the Russian Foreign Ministry, quoted by the Novosti RIA agency.
Westerners are also following the situation very closely: France reaffirms its support for Moldova in the face of "
the risks of destabilization
", Germany assures that it does not know who is behind the attacks and whether it was, like the says Ukraine, of false flag operations, and the United States calls for calm.
►
To read also: Transnistria: another issue between the West and Russia
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