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The Ukrainian military warned Sunday that Russian and separatist troops were on “full alert” in neighboring Moldova.
The region has become increasingly at the center of concerns that the conflict could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders. Pro-Russian forces entered Transnistria in 1992 and have been stationed there ever since, as peacekeepers.
Those forces are in “full combat readiness,” Ukraine said Sunday, without giving details of how the assessment came about.
The comments followed those of Russian General Rustam Minnekayev that Russian forces intended to take full control of the southern part of Ukraine, which would then provide Moscow with direct links to Transnistria. Following this warning, Transnistria was hit by a series of grenade attacks, including one at the Ministry of State Security in the city of Tiraspol.
When Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Transnistria declared its independence unilaterally, with the support of Russia. The war that then broke out between the Moldovan Government and the pro-Russian separatists ended in a ceasefire between Moldova and Russia in 1992. The issue, however, has not been resolved. Moldova continues to consider Transnistria as its territory, while Transnistria wants to be recognized as a state. It is not recognized by any member state of the United Nations. The people living there are mostly Russian-speaking, while the government is run by pro-Russian separatists. Transnistria has no border with Russia, but Russia has about 1,500 troops there that it calls peacekeepers. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that through them, Russia wants to destabilize Moldova.
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