Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian said the Republic of Moldova for now does not face any military danger. An eventual use of the airport in Tiraspol by the Russian army is just a hypothesis. Both the political and economic elites and the population in this region deny the possibility of an attack on Ukraine being launched from the Transnistrian region, IPN reports.
Oleg Serebrian noted the statements about the eventual use of the airport in Tiraspol to accept Russian aircraft are only suppositions. There is no information to confirm that the Transnistrian region can be used for logistical purposes by the Russian army. Moreover, the use of the ammunition depot in Cobasna in the war in Ukraine is now highly improbable.
“From military viewpoint, we never had conclusive evidence of military preparations in the Transnistrian region. The possibility of using the region for logistical purposes is just a hypothesis. For now, the military operations are rather far from Rybnitsa district. The Russian troops recently withdrew even from Nikolayev towards the administrative border of Kherson region. We cannot say that there is an imminent danger that this depot will be used in the military operations,” Oleg Serebrian stated in the program “Summary with Ileana Pîrgaru” on RliveTV.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, the 1,500 Russian soldiers who stay in the Transnistrian region represent a small contingent against the size of the war in Ukraine. Both the region’s administration and the population do not support the idea of an attack on Ukraine.
“The danger is rather limited if we consider the proportions of this war. Judging by figures, by the size of the military troops in Odessa region, it is rather improbable that they will enter Ukraine from this region. Furthermore, the rhetoric coming from Tiraspol seems to me rather prudent with regard to Ukraine. I cannot say there is a military danger in relation to our country. We should not forget that the Ukrainian citizens represent a large part of the political and economic establishment there. This region’s connections with Ukraine are considerable. The Ukrainian ethnics there constitute about 1/3 of the population. Society does not support the idea of an attack on Ukraine. The businesses and the population there are not in favor of this war,” said the official.
On April 5, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that the airport in Tiraspol is being prepared for accepting Russian aircraft. According to Kyiv, the territory of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian republic can be used to support an offensive towards the South.
