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Situation in Transnistria remains stable, under control, says top diplomat

Media outlets reported earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had relocated a large number of troops to the Odessa Region to prepare provocations against Transnistria

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. The security situation in Transnistria remains stable amid reports of possible provocations from Ukraine, the unrecognized republic’s Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatyev told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday.

Media outlets reported earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had relocated a large number of troops to the Odessa Region to prepare provocations against Transnistria.

"This is not the first time reports about some plans and preparations have appeared in the media. We heard similar reports in February, when the situation was also very alarming and worrisome. I would like to point out that a joint peacekeeping force ensures peace in Transnistria," Ignatyev noted. "So far, the security situation is relatively stable and under control. All the necessary measures are being properly taken based on the special regulations that we introduced," he added.

In March, Transnistria’s Ministry of State Security said that it had thwarted a terrorist attack against the republic’s officials and members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) delegation to Moldova. The perpetrators planned to detonate a car bomb in downtown Tiraspol, the Transnistrian capital. Two suspects were reported to have been detained. Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky stated the attack had been planned at the behest of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

In April 2022, Transnistria was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks, which began with the shelling of the State Security Ministry building with grenade launchers. Later, the broadcast antennas were blown up at one of the region’s largest radio and television centers located in the Mayak settlement. Military airfields near Tiraspol and Rybnitsa also came under attack, as well as an ammunition depot near the settlement of Cobasna, where some 20,000 tons of ammunition is stored. The attacks caused no casualties. Krasnoselsky pointed out at the time that the trail of the sabotage attacks led to Ukraine. Transnistria imposed the maximum terrorist threat level, which was downgraded from red to yellow on May 25 and remains in effect to this date.

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