The words are weighed. Contained emotion. “We call on our fellow citizens to remain calm and to feel safe”, tries to reassure the Moldovan President, Maia Sandu, during a press conference in reaction to the explosions which have occurred since the day before in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, in east of the country. For forty-eight hours, this small central European country fears that the war raging on its border with Ukraine will spread to its territory. After kyiv, the former Soviet republic fears to be Moscow’s next target.
Meeting in an extraordinary security council, the Moldovan government has taken several measures to deal with the rise in tension. Road and transport checks are reinforced, border patrols increased and additional measures to protect essential infrastructure set up.
Transnistria, autonomous region of Moldova.
The Express
kyiv accuses Moscow of “destabilizing” the region
The explosions that occurred on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 April in the separatist region of Transnistria, supported economically and militarily by Russia, are cause for concern. On Tuesday, two detonations that were heard in Mayak, near the Ukrainian border, damaged a radio tower, obstructing the frequencies of local antennas. The day before, the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security in Tiraspol had been the target of an attack with a grenade launcher. If the origin of the shootings has not been precisely defined, “it is an attempt to increase tensions”, according to Moldovan President Maia Sandu. “The Moldovan authorities will take care to prevent the Republic from being drawn into a conflict,” she continued.
The Ukrainian authorities, for their part, hastened to point to the Russian enemy, whom they accused of “destabilizing” the region. A lot of elements now raise fears of an overflow from the neighboring war. For its part, Moscow “is following the situation carefully”, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled. He also said he was “worried”. The pro-Russian leader of the separatist region, Vadim Krasnosselski, went further since he assured that the incidents “lead to Ukraine”. Who to believe?
Shifting conflict
In a context where the Russian army is engaged in a heavy offensive in the Donbass, where it has not won a significant position, the prospect that Moscow may seek to shift the conflict to Moldova exists. According to AFP, a Russian general said last week that he wanted to seize southern Ukraine, bordering Transnistria, in order to obtain direct access to the separatist enclave.
Some analysts believe that nearly 1,500 Russian soldiers are already massed in the region, which recalls the battalions stationed in Belarus on the eve of the February 24 offensive. And for several weeks, the Kremlin has been repeating that the Russian-speaking population of Moldova is the victim of “oppression”, an argument that Vladimir Putin had used to legitimize his entry into the war. Chisinau holds its breath.