Moldova held an urgent security meeting on Tuesday and the Kremlin expressed serious concerns after two explosions damaged Soviet-era radio masts in the breakaway region of Transnistria, where officials said a military unit was also targeted. .
Moldovan officials are sensitive to any signs of growing tension in Transnistria, an independent, Moscow-backed, unrecognized strip of land bordering southwestern Ukraine, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia has permanently based troops in Transnistria since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kiev fears the region could be used as a launching pad for further attacks on Ukraine.
“In the early hours of April 26, two explosions occurred in the village of Maiac, Grigoriopol district: the first at 6:40 am and the second at 7:05 am,” the Transnistrian Interior Ministry said.
No resident was injured, but two radio antennas carrying Russian radio were knocked down, he said.
Separately, the Transnistrian Security Council reported a “terrorist attack” on a military unit near the city of Tiraspol, Russian news agency TASS reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the news was a cause for serious concern and that Moscow was following developments closely.
The office of the unrecognized president of Transnistria ordered the terrorist threat level to be raised to red and said checkpoints would be set up at the entrances to cities in the region.
All vehicles entering at night would be checked, he said.
The incidents followed a series of explosions that local television reported on Monday hit the Transnistrian State Security Ministry in the regional capital Tiraspol.
Local officials said the building was targeted by unrecognized assailants with grenade launchers.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Tuesday convened a meeting of the country’s Supreme Security Council in response to the incidents.
“The Supreme Security Council will meet from 1:00 p.m. [horário local] in the presidency. After the meeting, at 3 pm, President Maia Sandu will hold a press conference,” the president’s press office said in a statement.
On Monday, the Moldovan government said the blasts in Tiraspol were aimed at creating tensions in a region it had no control over.
Last week, a top Russian military official said the second phase of what Russia calls a “special military operation” includes a plan to take full control of southern Ukraine and improve its access to Transnistria.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
