Attack on Transnistria: how 'collective West' trying to open a second front to Europe and Russia
Over the past two days, several explosions have occurred in the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic — in the building of the Ministry of State Security and the radio and television centre. Realnoe Vremya tells the readers what is known about the incidents, the possibility of which experts have been talking about since the very beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.
First incident — shelling of the Ministry of State Security building from RPG
The first explosions took place last night in the building of the Ministry of State Security, which is located in Tiraspol. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the PMR, as a result, windows on the upper floors were knocked out, and smoke was pouring out of the premises. There were no casualties as a result of the incident.
According to preliminary information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired several times at the building.
The Reintegration Bureau in the Government of Moldova reacted to the situation — according to TASS, they said that the shelling of the building of the Ministry of State Security of the PMR was committed in order to aggravate the situation in Transnistria.
“The purpose of today's incident is to create a pretext for aggravating the security situation in the Transnistrian region, which is not controlled by the constitutional authorities," the ministry said in a statement. They recalled that in March, the state bodies of Transnistria received anonymous reports several times about the massive mining of schools, medical institutions, shopping centres and other facilities.
Second incident — explosion of the radio centre retransmitting Russian radio
And today, new explosions thundered in the village of Mayak in the Grigoriopol district: according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the first occurred at 6.40 am, the second — at 7.05 am. The incident occurred on the territory of the Pridnestrovian radio and television centre. There are also no casualties.
As a result, two of the most powerful antennas — megawatt and half-megawatt ones — were put out of order, which retransmitted by Russian radio. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the PMR, the facility is one of the 14 radio transmission centres of the former USSR and was built in the late 1960s. The signal from there can be retransmitted to the USA, the Middle East and Latin America.
Third incident — attack on military unit in Parcani
The third incident in Transnistria was announced by President Vadim Krasnoselsky. He did not give details, only saying that all three incidents are considered as terrorist attacks, RIA Novosti reports.
At the moment, the decision of the Security Council has established red terror-alert level in the PMR.
“There is no confirmation that troops are being mobilised in Transnistria”
The General Staff of Ukraine has recently announced the alleged mobilisation of the armed forces on the territory of Transnistria in connection with the special operation of Russia, but the Moldovan authorities denied this information.
“State institutions are closely monitoring the security situation in the region. There is no confirmation that troops are being mobilised in Transnistria," the press service of the Moldovan government reported (quoted by RIA Novosti).
The same, as the agency reports, stated President of Moldova Maia Sandu:
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Transnistria, we have no information about any significant changes in the region in terms of security and military component, nevertheless it remains a subject of attention and concern. At the moment, there are no signals that troops from the region could be involved in military operations.
Later, the Foreign Ministry of the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic officially stated that it had no aggressive intentions against Ukraine:
“The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is not making any preparations and has no military intentions in relation to the regions of Ukraine bordering with Transnistria. We repeat that this principled position of the Pridnestrovian state is unchangeable," the Foreign Ministry stated.
It is known that there is a large ammunition depot in Transnistria near the border of Ukraine. It is located in the village of Kolbasna, it is guarded by an Operational group of Russian troops. According to the open data, there are about 20 thousand ammunition. The warehouse appeared there in the 1940s.
In 2019, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed to then President of Moldova Igor Dodon to start the process of ammunition disposal, but no decision was made on this.
Realnoe Vremya continues to follow the events. Read all important information in a special story of the online newspaper.