“Everything possible was made to avoid the Nistru war, but the pro-imperial forces wanted to subdue Moldova,” Minister of the Interior Victor Catan said during a program on the public television channel, dedicated to the armed conflict of 1992, Info-Prim Neo reports. “I remember very well that the then President Mircea Snegur and Head of Parliament Alexandru Mosanu did their utmost to avoid a conflict. The hostile forces started the war in order to appropriate the territory from the left bank of the Nistru and make the people deny their language and the independence,” the minister said. Victor Catan, who was first deputy Minister of the Interior at that time, said the occupation of the police commissariats by the separatists can be regarded as act of terrorism, adding they terrorized the persons who spoke Romanian or Moldovan. “The then President of Russia Boris Yeltsin ordered ceasing fire. What does this mean? Was it Russia that was leading the war?” the minister asked. By a decision passed by the Parliament, March 2 was declared the Memory Day – Day to Commemorate those Killed in the War for Defending Moldova's Integrity and Independence and the Victims of this Conflict. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 29,000 persons went to the war to defend their country. 286 lost their lives in battles, while 289 remained disabled.