MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Moscow warns against any attempts to destabilize the situation around Transnistria and will consider provocations against the Russian military there as an attack on Russia. Head of the second department of the CIS countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Polishchuk said this in an interview with TASS.
"We warn against any attempts to destabilize the situation around Transnistria. The Russian military are in the region on legitimate grounds as part of the joint peacekeeping forces and the operational group of Russian forces," the diplomat stressed.
"Any actions that pose a threat to their security will be considered in accordance with international law as attack on the Russian Federation," he stressed.
He added that the Russian armed forces "will respond adequately to any provocations" against the Russian military in Transnistria and will provide protection for compatriots, the Russian peacekeeping contingent, as well as military depots in Kolbasna.
The diplomat called the words of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who suggested that Russian peacekeepers leave if they want to live, "another demonstration of the aggressive course of the Kiev regime, the threats of which are already crossing the borders of neighboring countries."
Russian servicemen guard arsenals near the village of Kolbasna, where over 20,000 tons of ammunition are located, brought there after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Europe. Moldova insists on the removal of these ammunition, but the process, which began in 2001, was blocked by the Transnistrian authorities in 2004, after the aggravation of relations between the two banks of the Dniester.
The operational group of Russian forces, which numbers about 1,000 soldiers and officers, also provides support to the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which is located in the security separation zone along the Dniester. At the moment, the Russian military has found itself in a blockade, since Ukraine has blocked supply routes through its territory. Moldova, which insists on the withdrawal of the operational group of Russian forces, also blocks supplies routes.
Transnistria was established on September 2, 1990 on the territory of the eastern bank of the Dniester River, which is dominated by Russian-speaking people. It opposed the actions of radical politicians in Moldova who demanded the republic's exit from the USSR and its unification with Romania. In 1992, after an unsuccessful attempt by Chisinau to resolve the problem by force and the ensuing armed conflict, the Moldovan government lost control over the eastern bank area.