MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Transnistria’s State Security Ministry on Thursday said it thwarted an assassination of the breakaway region’s leader, Vadim Krasnoselsky. According to the agency, the attack had been plotted by Security Service of Ukraine.

The announcement of the foiled terrorist attack was issued amid the tensions around Transnistria as, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops had been massing up near the border of the breakaway republic in recent weeks. TASS has put together the highlights of what has been reported about the situation.

Attack plan

- According to the State Security Ministry, Krasnoselsky and some other officials of the breakaway republic were the targets of the would-be assassinations.

- The organizers of the terrorist attack conspired to blow up a car in the center of Tiraspol as the Transdniestrian presidential motorcade would be passing by, Vitaly Ignatyev, the breakaway region’s foreign minister, said on Rossiya-24 television. According to the republic’s Prosecutor Anatoly Guretsky, the plan was to rig the car with eight kilograms of hexogen and steel scraps.

- The perpetrators hoped for a "large number of casualties" as the place they picked for the explosion was supposed to draw a lot of people, Guretsky said.

- According to Ignatyev, a whole series of terrorist attacks has been plotted to hit Transnistria.

What investigators know

- Two suspects were detained, one of them was taken into custody, the Investigative Committee of Transnistria said. The foreign minister of the republic said that the detainees are the "triggermen."

- One of the suspects followed Krasnoselsky and other officials, as well as members of their families, for more than six months. He passed information to the special services of Ukraine, which had several scenarios for the terrorist attack, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Transnistria, Vyacheslav Brynzar, said on TSV television.

- The Transnistrian Investigative Committee said that the investigation has enough evidence to charge the suspects with espionage, treason, illegal trafficking of explosives and explosive devices, as well as conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack and the murder of two or more persons in a socially dangerous manner as part of an organized group.

- The investigation also is aware what route the alleged criminals used to deliver the explosives, Ignatyev said.

- The State Security Ministry said it started several investigations into conspiring to commit a terrorist attack and the murder of several persons related to their official duties. The ministry said that the crime had been plotted at the direction of the Security Service of Ukraine. The prosecutor of the breakaway republic made a similar statement.

Transnistrian reaction

- Krasnoselsky was warned about what was happening in a timely manner, his press service said. He is now in his office, and security has been beefed up, Ignatyev said.

- Transnistria will ask Ukraine "to provide all the necessary information," and also call on the participants in the "5 plus 2" format talks (Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and observers from the United States and the European Union) "to prevent the escalation of tensions," the minister added.

- He did not rule out that Tiraspol will appeal to "the permanent members of the UN Security Council in order to draw attention to this egregious situation."

- The president of the breakaway republic will deliver an address in connection with what is happening at 8:30 pm on the First Transnistrian and Radio 1.

- Ignatyev noted that Transnistria is considering "all options" for the development of the situation and "various plans" in the event of a possible attack from Ukraine.

What Moldova says

- The Moldovan government has no information about the terrorist attack that was being plotted in Transnistria, the Reintegration Bureau at the Moldovan government said.

- There is no threat the situation in Moldova will escalate in the context of reports about the planned terrorist attack in Transnistria, said Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

- Former President of Moldova Igor Dodon in connection with the incident called on the government to prevent the country from being drawn into the conflict in Ukraine.

Statement by Ukraine

- The Security Service of Ukraine denied involvement in the plotting of the terrorist attack and called what is happening a "Russian provocation."

- The Ukrainian Embassy in Chisinau declined to comment on the situation, the Moldovan portal Newsmaker reported, citing the press service of the diplomatic mission.

Tensions around Transnistria

- The situation around the breakaway republic has escalated in recent weeks. On February 23, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Kiev had intensified preparations for a provocation involving an invasion of Transnistria, purporting to respond to an offensive of Russian forces from there.

- The Russian Defense Ministry also pointed to a significant buildup of Ukrainian forces and equipment near the Transnistrian border. The speaker of Operational Command South at the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Natalia Gumenyuk, confirmed the buildup of Ukrainian units.