Moscow has already promised a “response” in the event of an incident. The Russian army on Thursday accused Ukraine of plotting an “invasion” of Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist territory of Moldova where Russian troops are already stationed.
“Let no one doubt: the armed forces of the Russian Federation will adequately respond to any provocation by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A small strip of land that broke away from Moldova in the 1990s after a brief war, Transnistria lies on Ukraine’s western border and has been the focus of heightened tension in recent months.
“The Kiev regime has stepped up preparations for the invasion of Transnistria,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram message. It will be launched “in response to an alleged attack by Russian troops from the territory of Transnistria,” he continues.
“Accumulation of personnel and equipment”
The Russian army assured that they were observing “a significant accumulation of Ukrainian military equipment and personnel near the border”, “deployment of artillery in firing positions” and “an unprecedented increase in flights of Ukrainian drones over the territory” of the separatist republic. “The implementation of the provocation planned by the Ukrainian authorities poses a direct threat to the Russian contingent” located in Transnistria, the ministry further assessed. He added that the Russian army “will adequately respond to the provocation planned by Ukraine.”
“We call for calm”
For its part, Moldova, in a press release, once again denies any “direct threat” from Ukraine to the pro-Russian separatist region.
The Moldovan government announced on its Telegram channel on Thursday that “state authorities do not confirm the information published this morning by the Russian Ministry of Defense.” “We call for calmness and obtaining information from official and reliable sources of the Republic of Moldova,” he added.
Moldova’s new prime minister, Dorin Recean, recently called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria, drawing the ire of the Kremlin. “I would recommend to our Moldovan colleagues to be extremely careful in their statements,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on Monday.
The pro-European Moldovan authorities have previously accused Moscow of wanting to organize a coup d’état in Moldova, but the Russian side denied these accusations. Since the offensive against Ukraine began a year ago, Russia has been accused of threatening new clashes in Transnistria to destabilize Kyiv and Chisinau.
Source: Le Parisien
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