Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean confirmed the statements of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that Russia wants to seize the airport in Chisinau to transfer military and equipment to the left bank of the Dniester and open a new front through Moldova. He is quoted by Moldova1 and Deschide . According to Rechan, this is just one of Russia's plans, and the state is ready for confrontation.
“We have said several times that there are several more destabilization scenarios, now only one is mentioned. They include several elements, including those mentioned by President Zelensky, but our institutions are ready to face such challenges,” Rechan said.
Earlier, the Moldovan media wrote that Zelensky, in an interview with La Republica, announced Russia's plans to seize the airport in Chisinau. According to Zelensky's quote cited by Moldova1, the Ukrainian secret services found out about these plans and warned the Moldovan leadership. Russia, through such actions, wants to be able to transfer soldiers and equipment to open a new front in Ukraine, the Ukrainian leader noted.
Earlier, Putin by a new decree canceled the "May decree" of 2012 "On measures to implement the foreign policy of the Russian Federation." Among other things, it spoke about "the search for ways to solve the Transnistrian problem based on respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and neutral status of the Republic of Moldova."
In February, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated that Russia wants to carry out a coup in the republic and bring its proteges to power.
The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) is an unrecognized state formation occupying a narrow strip of the left bank of the Dniester in the territory of Moldova. Transnistria was formed in the early 1990s as a result of a political and short-lived armed confrontation between the predominantly Russian and Ukrainian population of the region, on the one hand, and Moldovans, who first advocated independence from the USSR, and then for unification with Romania, on the other.
The active phase of hostilities lasted from March to July 1992. Many representatives of the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine fought in Transnistria, among them – the former Minister of Defense of the "DPR" Igor Strelkov (Girkin), the former head of the government of the "DPR" Alexander Borodai and the former "power" Deputy Prime Minister of the "DPR" Vladimir Antyufeev.
The status of the PMR has not yet been settled. The negotiation process under the auspices of the OSCE has stalled after the aggravation of relations between Russia and other mediators – the United States, the EU and Ukraine. Of the approximately 450,000 inhabitants, 220,000 have Russian citizenship. In 2006, a referendum was held, in which 97.1% (with a turnout of 78.5%) of Pridnestrovians voted for joining the Russian Federation. The economy is based on the export of electricity from the Moldavskaya GRES (owned by the Russian Inter RAO) and cross-border trade (including smuggling). More than half of the legal and "gray" economic activity is controlled by the Sheriff holding. There is not a single deputy in the legislative body of the PMR who is not associated with Sheriff.
Since 1995, an operational group of Russian troops has been deployed in the PMR, with a current strength of about 1.5 thousand people. One of the main tasks of the military contingent is the protection of the largest complex of military depots in Eastern Europe in the village of Kolbasna. According to various estimates, more than 20 thousand tons of ammunition and military equipment are stored there, left over from Soviet units and formations previously stationed in the Moldavian SSR and the Warsaw Pact states.