The ammunition depot in Cobasna is a growing danger amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, especially because a part of the explosive devices there are stored under the open air and are protected only by a barbed wire fence. Technically, that depot can be detonated with a drone only and the consequences will be huge, with noxious effects for the soil and air and damage within an area stretching up to Vienna in the West, Anatolie Prohnitski, the chairman of the Ecologist Green Party, stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency.
“What does the Cobasna depot represent? A lot of people treat this subject extremely superficially. The first munitions stored there were intended for the Soviet Army on the Balkan direction. Later, there was stored armament evacuated from Eastern European countries, including chemical and bacteriological weapons,” said the expert. “According to our information, there are shells that can be launched with Grad systems. A part of the munitions were placed in underground concrete boxes that were covered, but another part have stayed in the open air for years, being exposed to all the atmospheric influences. The depot is surrounded with a barbed wire fence only. Trees, bushes and grass grow around the perimeter, but this is banned according to the storage rules”.
The speaker said an explosion caused by a done can cause the destruction of the whole depot. Even without a drone, many arms depots in the central part of Russia, in Ural and Far East exploded, incusing before the invasions of Ukraine of 2014 and 2022, out of negligence or for various reasons. This points to a low security level. The same refers to the Cobasna depot that is under the management of the same system.
Moreover, Anatolie Prohnitski said that for about 20 years Russia hasn’t allowed international organizations to inspect the ammunition depot, not to mention Moldova. Only the Russian Federation and probably the Transnistrian authorities know what’s there, in what quantities and what the storage conditions are.
As to the danger posed by this depot, the expert said that this is very serious as the detonation of the whole depot will have a destructive effect. Specialists estimated that the air blast wave and the noxious emissions, the smoke with different particles can expand on an area up to Austria, with a negative impact on houses, land, air.
In another development, the speaker said Russia can use nuclear weapons, both tactical and strategic. Putin has big frustrations about the pace of the “special operation”. Also, the invading troops can attacks nuclear plants in Ukraine.
“The danger is very big. Many do not want such a scenario. The leaders of the great world powers in terms of economic and military potential discuss with Putin and inform him. China and other countries consider acting as mediators in the given issue. It is worrisome as the (atomic) defense system in Russia was activated to prepare special basements. The administration of the Republic of Moldova also devotes attention to this aspect. The danger exists. We must be realistic either the risk materializes or not. The use of this weapon will anyway not produce the result wanted by Putin,” stated Anatolie Prohnitski.
The public debate entitled “The War and the Planet” was the 275th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
