CHISINAU (Reuters) – Moldovan President Maia Sandu called an emergency security meeting on Tuesday after the security council of the breakaway region of Transnistria reported explosions on its territory, set up checkpoints and raised its “terrorist threat level” to red.
“Early in the morning of April 26, two explosions occurred in the village of Maiac, in the Grigoriopol district: the first at 6.40 a.m. and the second at 7.05 a.m.,” said the interior ministry of the self-declared autonomous region and not recognized by the international community.
No residents were injured, but two antennas that broadcast Russian radio were taken out of service, he said.
The Transnistrian Security Council also reported what it called a “terrorist attack” against a military unit near the city of Tiraspol, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Moldova’s Supreme Security Council is holding a meeting on Tuesday in response to the incidents.
“The Supreme Security Council will meet from 1 p.m. (10 a.m. GMT) at the presidency. After the meeting, at 3 p.m., President Maia Sandu will hold a press briefing,” the press office of the presidency said. in a press release.
The Republic of Moldova is attentive to the growing tensions in Transnistria, a strip of land that borders the south-west of Ukraine. Although the separatist government is not recognized by the Kremlin, Russia has had a permanent military force there since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kyiv fears that the region will be used by Moscow as a rear base to launch new offensives against Ukraine.
Since Monday, local authorities have reported three attacks that destroyed Transnistria’s national security headquarters and damaged old Soviet-era radio antennas, local news agency Novosti PMR reported.
(Report Alexander Tanas, Tom Balmforth and Alessandra Prentice; French version Kate Entringer and Augustin Turpin)
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