Three days of alleged attacks in a contested area of Moldova are raising fears the conflict in Ukraine may be spreading over the border.
There have been reports of explosions and shots fired in Transnistria, a Russian-backed breakaway territory in Moldova.
The incidents are said to have happened in Tiraspol, Maiac, Parcani and Cobasna.
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There have been four alleged attacks over three days in the region
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Pro-Russian separatists have pointed the finger at Ukraine, while Moldova’s pro-Western government accused those within Transnistria of trying to destabilise the situation.
Transnistria, with a population of about 470,000 people, has been under the control of separatist authorities since a 1992 war with Moldova. It is home to a regiment of around 1,000 Russian soldiers.
The region’s independence is not recognised by the pro-Western government of Moldova or the international community.
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On Monday, the Transnistrian authorities said an explosion was reported at the state’s security headquarters in Tiraspol, the region’s main city.
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The security headquarters was said to have been attacked. Pic: Google Earth.
Photos shared on Twitter by the Ministry of Internal Affairs show emergency services at the scene.
Smoke can be seen coming from the building’s broken windows.
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Smoke can be seen coming out of the building in this image widely shared online
Local news proer First Transnistria published this watermarked footage which appears to be CCTV footage of the attack.
Sky News has verified the location in the matches the scene of the incident. It appears to show two men using launchers to fire at the building.
Photos from the scene show discarded remnants of launchers.
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Parts of launchers were seen at the site of the attack
Weapons experts believe they are both single-shot rocket launchers, an RPG-22 and an RShG-1.
The following day, explosions reportedly hit two targets.
One was a military unit in Parcani.
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The radio masts were reportedly hit on Tuesday. Pic: Google Earth
The second was an attack on two radio masts in nearby Maiac.
The masts are used to transmit Russian broadcasts.
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Part of the radio antenna hit on Tuesday. Pic: Transnistria Interior Ministry/REUTERS
And on Wednesday, the interior ministry claimed “several drones” which were “launched from Ukraine” flew over Cobasna.
It continued to say: “Shots were fired from the Ukrainian side in the direction of Cobasna.”
The statement highlighted that the area is the site of one of the largest ammunition depots in Europe.
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Cobasna is home to a large ammunitions depot. Pic: Google Earth
After the first three alleged attacks, Transnistria’s unrecognised president’s office announced a series of measures in response.
This included new checkpoints, increased powers for law enforcement agencies, as well as checks on vehicles and people.
Moldova’s future is dependent on Ukraine’s resistance against Russia
By Mark Stone, correspondent
There is deep concern in Moldova not only that the Ukraine conflict could spill over here but that the future of Moldova as a county could be in jeopardy.
The county’s former deputy prime minister has told Sky News that Moldova’s future is dependent on Ukraine’s resistance against Russia.
Vlad Kulminski, who was also responsible for negotiations on Transnistria until November last year, said people are deeply concerned.
“Our future as an independent state does depend to a great degree on how successful Ukraine is in fighting for its independence and resisting and ultimately surviving as an independent state,” he said.
“Everybody is very worried, no question about that, but it’s very important for the government of the Republic of Moldova and everybody who is involved in this process to remain calm and think about the next steps and to think about what the Moldovan government can do to prevent the country from getting dragged into the war. Moldova is in a state of weakness, this country doesn’t really have what you would know as resilience, an ability to resist these shocks.”
The frozen conflict between Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria is 30 years old this month.
In an uneasy peace with Transnistria, Russian soldiers acting as self-proclaimed peacekeepers man the border posts between Moldova proper and the self-styled republic of Transnistria.
The concept of neutrality is written into Moldova’s constitution. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine it sought fast-track membership to the European Union, something that is unlikely to be accepted for many years.
But it has not sought any military protection from the West. It has no proper functioning army and so even if it asked for Western weapons it would not have the ability to use them.
Mr Kulminski said the path forward relies on calm heads and dialogue between the EU, Moldovan politicians who are themselves died and leaders of the breakaway republic.
“Moldova is very closely communicating and coordinating with the European Union, with the countries that want to help Moldova,” he said.
“There is now overwhelming interest and support for the republic of Moldova from the West. This is a very important factor. We feel this support. Primarily today I think a more important problem for Moldova is internal stability and resilience. Internally it is a little bit of a died country. So it’s really important to keep things calm and quiet and not to provoke any tensions within Moldova.”
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