Moldova says it has every right to impede the rotation of Russian troops in the breakaway region of Transnistria, given its position that, apart from a peacekeeping contingent, they are there illegally.
A banner in 2018 in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria, marks the 26th anniversary of the reghion’s self-proclaimed independence. Photo: BIRN/Madalin Necsutu
Moldova on Friday denied Russian Foreign Ministry complaints that it is sabotaging the rotation of Russian troops in breakaway Transnistria and not letting Russia bring modern weaponry to its forces in the region.
“Our country rejects the accusations launched [by Russia], with the explicit mention that cases of non-authorized entry of certain Russian servicemen are related to [Russian] non-compliance with the criteria established in the mechanism.”
“Thus, the entry of the officers of the so-called Operative Group of the Russian Troops, a formation that is illegally on the territory of our country and that violates neutral status, was not allowed,” officials in Chisinau said in a press release.
Moldova reiterated its call for the unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and ammunition depots from Moldova, including from the breakaway Transnistrian region.
The director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s second CIS department, Alexey Polishchuk, said on Thursday that Moldova is deliberately blocking the rotation of Russian troops in Transnistria.
“At the airport in Chisinau, Russian officers on their way to Transnistria to fit the Russian contingent on a rotational basis were detained many times without explanation. We consider such actions unfriendly and always react to them accordingly,” he said.
The Deputy Chief of Staff of Russian Land Forces, Igor Sokorenko, on Thursday also accused Moldova of trying to prevent new deliveries of Russian military equipment and equipment to Transnistria.
He said Moldovan authorities are counting on the inevitable wear and tear of the material available to the Russian army in Transnistria.
“This situation is caused by the fact that the Transnistrian section of the state border between Ukraine and Moldova has been closed by the Kyiv authorities and by [their] renunciation of the agreement with Russia on the transit of military units of the Russian Federation and military goods through the territory of Ukraine,” he stated.
On Friday, RIA Novosti published an interview with the breakaway region’s foreign minister, Vitaly Ignatiev, in which he says Transnistria intends to join the Russian Federation.
“The vector of Transnistria has remained unchanged throughout the years of the republic’s existence, which is reflected in the results of the referendum on 17 September 2006, where it is clearly indicated: independence with subsequent free accession to the Russian Federation. The independence of the country is an absolute priority,” Ignatiev said.
Moldova has no longer allowed this rotation of Russian troops since 2015, and has repeatedly asked the UN General Assembly to ensure withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory.
Russia keeps about 1,700 soldiers in the Transnistrian region on the left bank of the Dniester. They are divided into two groups: Russian peacekeepers with a mandate to ensure peace, and Russian soldiers who are part of the Operative Group of the Russian Troops, OGRT.
These do not have a mandate but stay in the region under the pretext of guarding the ammunition depot at Cobasna, where 20,000 tons of ammunition from the time of the Soviet Union are stored.
The Russian military in the OGRT is subordinate to the Western District of the Russian Army, based in St Petersburg. They are viewed as a real danger by both Moldova and Ukraine as the possible source of a surprise attack.
Military sources in Chisinau say the core of the OGRT consists of 70 to 100 Russian officers, the rest being Transnistrian locals employed as Russian soldiers. The Russian peacekeepers and the OGRT military are de facto one and the same. Troops rotate between them once every six months.
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