CHISINAU, August 1. /TASS/. War crimes committed in 1992 against the citizens of Transnistria have no statute of limitations, the region’s president Vadim Krasnoselsky said.
"This war [with Moldova] has brought grief and suffering to Transnistrian families who lost their relatives and loved ones, who lost their homes and were thus forced to become refugees. The war crimes of the Moldovan nationalists have no statute of limitations. All these guards, militiamen, Cossacks and rescuers who rose up to defend the right cause: the life and freedom of their children and grandchildren. They’ve proven to be true heroes whose deeds still live on in the hearts of their grateful descendants," the president said in an address published on his press service’s website. The Transnistrian leader revealed that according to the authorities, 804 residents died during the military clashes, over 1,500 were wounded, and tens of thousands became refugees. Krasnoselsky also said that the root of the problem was "the chauvinistic views of Moldovan nationalists that led to a policy of terror and violence against civilians."
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.
Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the zone of combat operations in Transnistria in late July of 1992 under an agreement on peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in Moldova’s Transnistrian region. The move helped stop the confrontation between the Moldovan police and Transnistrian militias, allowing the sides to hold talks on the peaceful settlement.