After the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, the situation has also become tense in Transnistria, a Russian-speaking break-away region in the east of the Republic of Moldova. A former Soviet republic, Moldova has a majority Romanian-speaking population. In the Russia-controlled region of Transnistria, a series of incidents have taken place in the last few days, their author unknown, which raise fears of a spill-over of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Two explosions took place in Maiac, where two communications towers of the radio and tv centre were blown up, no victims being reported. The interior ministry of the break-away region says two radio masts that broadcast radio stations from the Russian Federation were damaged. The blasts occurred one day after the headquarters of the security service in Transnistria’s capital Tiraspol were attacked with grenade launchers. The Moldovan authorities in Chișinău confirmed reports of gun fire on the border with Ukraine, some two km from an arms and munitions depot in Cobasna. Under the circumstances, the Intelligence and Security Service in the Republic of Moldova said it is keeping a close eye on the development of the security situation in Transnistria and urged for calm.
The leader of separatist Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky said „the traces of these attacks lead to Ukraine”, which, for its part, is accusing Moscow of trying to destabilise Transnistria. Stopping short of blaming Moscow for the explosions, as Kyiv has done, the spokesman for the US State Department Ned Price said Washington remains concerned about attempts to escalate tensions. The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France supports the stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova in the face of destabilisation risks to which it may be exposed. „Our support for the Republic of Moldova, which is particularly exposed to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, will continue in a determined way”, writes a statement from the French foreign ministry.
In Bucharest, the defence ministry said the Romanian army does not currently have military in the Republic of Moldova, whether for exercises or any other joint training missions. It made this clarification after a Russian-language publication falsely wrote that Romania is planning to attack Transnistria with NATO support, before going on to annex the Republic of Moldova, and that it deployed military to Moldova. (Leyla Cheamil, Radio Romania International)
