There are growing concerns that Moldova could be pulled into Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, after explosions were reported in a breakaway region for a third consecutive day.
The interior ministry of Transnistria, a Moscow-backed separatist area bordering Ukraine, said earlier today that shots were fired at a village housing a Russian arms depot.
It blamed drones from Ukraine for the attack after the unrecognised region – also known as Transdniestria – branded a series of earlier explosions ‘terrorist attacks’.
The situation shares a number of similarities with the run-up to the Ukraine invasion, when Russia said it wanted to defend de facto states inside its neighbour’s territory, notably the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
Yesterday – before the latest incident was reported – Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, convened the Supreme Security Council to discuss the reports.
Conceding that the incidents were ‘creating risks’ for Moldova, she said it was an ‘escalation of tensions’ and referred to ‘several bomb alerts’ in recent weeks.
‘We condemn any provocations or attempts to involve Moldova in actions that could threaten the country’s peace’, Ms Sandu added.
The country is not part of Nato and does not border Russia.
Transnistria, a strip of land in Moldova with a population of around 470,000, has been under the control of separatist authorities since a 1992 war with Moldova.
Russia has around 1,500 troops stationed there, supposedly as peacekeepers, but concerns are mounting that the forces could be used to bolster the Ukrainian invasion.
Today, the interior ministry of separatist Transnistria said on its website: ‘Last night, several drones were noticed in the sky over the village of Kolbasna.
‘The drones were launched onto the territory of Transnistria from Ukraine.’
Kolbasna is located just 1.25 miles from the Ukrainian border.
It houses a stockpile of some 20,000 tonnes of munitions that date back to the Soviet era, guarded by Russian troops.
The interior ministry said that it is believed to be the largest ammunition depot in Europe.
‘On the morning of April 27 at 8.45am [6.45am British time] shots were fired from the Ukrainian side towards Kolbasna,’ the Transnistrian ministry added, saying that there were no reported injuries.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries from the attacks.
It comes as blasts were heard in three parts of Russia near the Ukrainian border, in separate incidents last night.
Transnistria reported explosions on Monday and Tuesday hitting the security ministry, a military unit and a Russian-owned radio tower.
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That led to Moldova urging its citizens to keep calm and step up security measures.
Police in the separatist region say two explosions a radio facility close to the Ukrainian border, knocking two powerful antennas out of service for Russian radio shows.
Yesterday’s blasts occurred in the small town of Maiac, roughly seven miles west of the Ukraine border, according to the region’s Interior Ministry.
It comes just a day after several explosions believed to be caused by rocket-propelled grenades were reported to have hit the Ministry of State Security in the city of Tiraspol, the region’s capital.
No-one was hurt in Tuesday’s explosions, officials said.
A senior Russian military official, Rustam Minnekayev, said last week that Russian forces aim to take full control of southern Ukraine, saying such a move would open the way to Transnistria.
Prior to the most recent incident, the breakaway state’s security council also said there had been a total of three incidents in the region, including damage to a military unit in the village of Parcani yesterday.
Officials did not elaborate on the military unit incident, but declared ‘a red level of terrorist threat’ and pledged further security measures in the region.
Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that the situation in Transnistria ‘elicits concern’ in the Kremlin.
Shortly after the Ukraine invasion began in February, a Moldovan chemical tanker was hit by a missile off the Ukranian coast – though it was not immediately clear who was responsible for firing it.
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