Dorin Recean, the Prime Minister of Moldova. INQUAM PHOTOS / REUTERS
The separatist authorities in Transnistria have claimed to have thwarted an attack, fomented according to them by the Ukrainian security services (SBU).
Authorities in Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova, have called on the UN to investigate a plot to attack several senior officials, which they said they foiled earlier Thursday and blame on Kiev, which denies . “I have already instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to prepare statements to all members of the UN Security Council. (…) We will call (them) to examine this situation and ensure our safety”declared in Russian the leader of the separatists, Vadim Krasnosselskiï, in a televised address.
This intervention came a few hours after the separatist authorities in Transnistria assured that they had foiled an attack, fomented according to them by the Ukrainian security services (SBU). The SBU immediately denounced these allegations as a “provocation orchestrated by the Kremlin”while Moscow had already affirmed at the end of February that kyiv was carrying out “preparations” with a view to attacking Transdniestria, a self-proclaimed pro-Russian state bordering Ukraine. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, for his part, affirmed “not having confirmation” the veracity of these allegations.
“Terrorist network”
This new episode of tensions is fueling fears of a widening conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Since Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine, there has been regular speculation that a new front will be opened from Transnistria towards the major port city in southern Ukraine, Odessa. Moscow is also accused of seeking to destabilize Moldova, formerly in its area of influence but now led by resolutely pro-European authorities. The Ministry of Public Security of Transdniestria thus stated that it had “foiled a terrorist attack” who was, according to this source, “prepared by the Ukrainian security services against several officials” of the separatist region.
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It was impossible to independently verify these claims. “The place where the terrorist act was to take place shows that the objective was first the elimination of the leaders of the State and (…) to cause a large number of victims, since the act terrorist was to take place in the center of Tiraspol where many citizens were to be gathered”, said, according to Russian agencies, the prosecutor of the region, Anatoly Guretsky. The head of the territory’s diplomacy, Vitali Ignatev, indicated that one of the people targeted was the leader of this self-proclaimed state, Vadim Krasnosselsky, with “other high-level officials”. According to this same Vadim Krasnosselsky, who gave details of the preparations for this planned attack, the SBU “organized a terrorist network” In the region “with the help of ‘so-called refugees'”.
Two people arrested
A local television station in Transnistria, Perviï Pridnestrovski, claimed on the Russian social network VK that the attack was to be committed with a car bomb containing eight kilos of explosives and broadcast images of the one who is presented as the main suspect. He was identified as Viatcheslav Kisnitchane, born in Tiraspol in 1979 but living for twelve years in Odessa. According to the Committee of Inquiry, in charge of the investigations, two people have been arrested and will be prosecuted for “espionage”, “state treason”, “preparation of an act of terrorism”, “preparation of multiple assassinations” and “illegal possession of explosives”. Transnistria, a Russian-speaking region of Moldova on the border with Ukraine, declared its independence after a short war after the fall of the USSR and is not recognized by any state.
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It is supported by Russia, which has a military contingent there, while Moldova, a Romanian-speaking country of the former Soviet Union, is resolutely turned towards European integration, ambitions that Moscow sees with a dim view. President Vladimir Putin gave him a new stab at the end of February to reconciliation efforts between Chisinau and Tiraspol, a peace process paralyzed for years, the master of the Kremlin having canceled a 2023 decree evoking the “respect for sovereignty” Moldovan. In June, the EU granted candidate status to join the bloc to both Ukraine and Moldova.
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