State security authorities in Moldova’s Russian-backed Transnistrian breakaway region said Friday that a drone struck a military unit near the border with Ukraine, causing minor damage to a radar station but causing no casualties.
The region’s Ministry of State Security said the incident occurred in the Ravnita region, about six miles from the Ukrainian border, adding that a criminal investigation had been launched. They did not say who they believed was behind the alleged attack.
Moldova’s reintegration policy agency said the incident fell into Transnistria’s “pattern of provocations” aimed at “inciting panic and tension” and maintaining attention on the region.
How events in Moldova’s Transnistrian breakaway region heightened fears of Russian interference
Moldova, like Ukraine, is a candidate for membership in the European Union, and Russia is waging a “hybrid war” against it, interfering in local elections, overthrowing the government, and attempting to derail its course with massive disinformation. He has repeatedly accused them of running a campaign. Towards full membership of the EU. Russia denies the accusations.
Alexander Korshunov, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Pridnestrovia and Moldavia, addresses delegates in Tiraspol, Moldova, February 28, 2024. (Supreme Council of PMR Telegram Channel via AP)
The drone incident comes after an empty helicopter was destroyed at a military facility in Transnistria last month, which Transnistrian authorities blamed on a Ukrainian drone attack, but Moldovan officials said a gradual The explosion was also meant to heighten tensions.
Moldova did not directly condemn Russia, but said that “further such actions are being planned by the Russian Federation” in Transnistria.
After a brief war in the early 1990s, Transnistria declared independence from Moldova, but today’s pro-Western government remains adamantly opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Transnistria’s independence has not been recognized by UN member states, including Russia, but the Kremlin-friendly territory is wedged between Moldova and Ukraine, among others, and is home to a military base housing 1,500 Russians. This has become a source of tension during the war. army. It was not immediately clear whether troops were at the scene of Friday’s drone incident.
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The separatist region made headlines in February when authorities used an unusual meeting of Transnistria’s parliament to appeal to Moscow for “protection” due to mounting pressure from Moldova. The appeal stopped short of requiring Russia to annex the territory, but it allayed fears within Moldova, which had downplayed the event as propaganda.
