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Two powerful explosions rocked Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist region on the border with Ukraine today, days after the Kremlin said it had launched a crackdown on Russophones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The blasts struck two powerful Soviet-era radio antennas broadcasting by Russian stations in Transnistria, an internationally unknown autonomous region on Ukraine’s southwestern border.<\/p>\n
The strikes occurred in the town of Maiac about 12 kilometers west of the border with Ukraine, the region’s interior ministry said.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, grenade blasts had hit the region’s security ministry in the regional capital, Tiraspol. Officials said no one was injured in the blasts.<\/p>\n
In response to the incidents Moldovan President Maia Sandu had convened a meeting of the country’s security council.<\/p>\n
Moldovan pro-European authorities had expressed concerns about rising tensions in Transnistria, especially since Russia’s attack on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Noting the escalation of tensions, Kremlin military chief Rustam Minnekayev said earlier that Russia was seeking control of southern Ukraine until it reached a land connection with Transnistria “where there has been similar repression of the Russian-speaking population.”<\/p>\n
Moldova’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador for comments, complaining about statements violating its territorial integrity ‘within internationally recognized borders’.<\/p>\n
They said Moscow’s suggestions about the need to protect the Russian-speaking population were a frightening echo of the justification for the occupation of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia was closely following developments in Transnistria, adding that developments in the region were a serious concern for Russia.<\/p>\n
Transnistria is a land belt with about 470,000 inhabitants between Moldova and Ukraine, where all citizens have Russian citizenship but are internationally recognized as part of Moldova.<\/p>\n
About 1,500 Russian army troops are always stationed in Transnistria, housed in a depot of about 20,000 tons of ammunition dating back to the Soviet era, according to Britain’s Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
In the early hours of Tuesday, two explosions struck radio station antennas broadcast by Russian media in the border area with Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to reports, the explosions took place this morning at 6:40 and 7:05 at the Mayak radio station, about 50 kilometers from the regional capital Tiraspol.<\/p>\n
So far no connection has been made between the attack in Tiraspol and the explosion of radio antennas.<\/p>\n
For several days, officials have been saying that the conflict in Ukraine could spread to other countries, starting with the border ones.<\/p>\n
Unlike Ukraine and Georgia, Moldova does not seek NATO membership but has applied for membership in the European Union. The country of 2.6 million has only a few thousand soldiers and can not resist Russian attack.<\/p>\n
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