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Kiev mines Transnistrian section of border with Moldova — Ukrainian ambassador

Paun Rogovey stressed that this was done because Moldova does not control unrecognized Transnistria, where an Operational Group of Russian troops is stationed

CHISINAU, April 14. /TASS/. Ukraine has mined the Transnistrian stretch of the border with Moldova and equipped it with technical surveillance devices because of the Russian troops’ presence in Transnistria, said Ukrainian ambassador to Moldova Paun Rogovey.

"It's not just about mining, there's a whole range of actions aimed at ensuring the safety and security of this site. And these measures are useful not only for Ukraine, but also for the Republic of Moldova," the diplomat said.

According to him, this was done because Moldova does not control unrecognized Transnistria, where an Operational Group of Russian troops is stationed, which carries out a peacekeeping operation and guards ammunition depots in the village of Kolbasna stored there since the Soviet times.

"Any movement of weapons, subversive groups - we understand very well what is happening in Transnistria. You have a territory that you do not control, and there are troops of the Russian Federation there," Rogovey explained.

After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, a series of terrorist attacks took place in Transnistria. They began in the spring of 2022 with the shelling of the Ministry of State Security building with grenade launchers. Later the antennas of one of the largest radio and television centers in the region in the village of Mayak were blown up. Military airfields near Tiraspol and Rybnitsa, as well as the location of the Transnistrian peacekeeping contingent and the territory of the arsenal near the village of Kolbasna, where about 20,000 tons of ammunition are stored, were attacked. Transnistria’s Foreign Ministry appealed for help in the investigation to the mediators in the negotiations between Tiraspol and Chisinau - the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine, but the request was ignored. Transnistria’s President Vadim Krasnoselsky said that the sabotage was organized from Ukraine, and also accused the Moldovan special services of involvement. The maximum terrorist threat level was introduced in the republic, and on May 25 last year it was lowered from red to yellow.