CHISINAU, March 26. /TASS/. The Investigative Committee of the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria has released the details of an investigation into a drone attack that destroyed a military helicopter.
Earlier, Moldova’s government issued a statement, claiming that the video of the incident spread by the media was a fake.
"Various metal and plastic parts of the exploded drone were found at the scene, including electric engines, fragments of the frame, electronic boards and batteries. The information collected by investigators, the attack was carried out using an FPV [first person view] drone," the Investigative Committee said in a statement, adding that witnesses in the case have been questioned and an expert examination of explosives was underway.
The Bureau for Reintegration Policies under the Moldovan government claimed earlier that the explosion had been carried out deliberately, in order to cause panic and maintain tensions on both banks of the Dniester River. The agency also voiced accusations against Russia, alleging that it was interested in creating instability in Moldova.
On March 17, Transnistria’s television channels released a video of a drone attack on an Mi-8MT transport helicopter of the Transnistrian army at a former military airfield in Tiraspol located some ten kilometers from the border with Ukraine. According to the Transnistrian Investigative Committee, the attack was carried out using a first person view (FPV) drone. Experts found various parts of the exploded drone at the scene, all of which were sent for examination. The Transnistrian Foreign Ministry described the attack as a terrorist act and asked the mediators in the talks between Tiraspol and Chisinau - the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Russia and Ukraine - for help in the investigation. Chisinau was also asked to join the inquiry. The Moldovan government did not accept the invitation but refuted Kiev's involvement in the incident.
Last April, a series of terrorist attacks were carried out in Transnistria. They began with the firing of rocket-propelled grenades at the State Security Ministry building. The antennae of one of the region's largest radio and television centers in the village of Maiac were blown up. Military airfields near Tiraspol and Ribnita, as well as the location of the Transnistrian peacekeeping contingent and the premises of an arsenal near the village of Cobasna, where about 20,000 tons of ammunition are stored, were attacked. The terrorist attacks caused no casualties. Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky said at the time that the sabotage had been organized in Ukraine and also accused Moldovan intelligence agencies of being involved. The unrecognized republic introduced a maximum terrorist threat level, which was lowered from red to yellow on May 25 last year and is still in effect.