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Transdniester Separatists Say Fuel Depot, Conscription Center 'Targeted' In Tiraspol

By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service May 13, 2022

Authorities in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region said on May 13 that two attempted attacks were carried out on a fuel depot and conscription center in the regional capital, Tiraspol.

The incidents were the latest in a series of alleged attacks reported by Russia-backed Transdniester over the past weeks amid mounting fears of a spillover from the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

"At around 4:15 in the morning, a car stopped near an oil depot of one enterprise, from which an unidentified man got out, threw a Molotov cocktail toward the building and fled," the self-styled Interior Ministry said in a statement.

It said that some grass caught fire but it was "quickly" extinguished.

Around 30 minutes later, "two Molotov cocktails were thrown" at a conscription office in Tiraspol.

"One bounced off onto the sidewalk, the other got stuck in window grates. The fire was promptly extinguished by security," the ministry said.

Transdniester is a narrow strip of land between Moldova proper and Ukraine. It declared independence from Chisinau in 1990 and the two sides fought a brief war in 1992 that was quelled by Russian troops intervening on the side of separatists.

Russia still maintains some 1,500 soldiers in Transdniester who are said to be guarding a huge Soviet-era arms depot.

Besides the troops ostensibly guarding the depot, Russia has another 400-500 soldiers in Transdniester that have been labeled as peacekeepers since the end of the 1992 war.

Fears of a spillover from the Ukraine conflict grew after a Russian general said Moscow's invasion had the goal of creating a land corridor through southern Ukrainian territory to Transdniester.

The European Union pledged on May 4 to boost military aid to Moldova.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/transdniester- molotov-attack-tiraspol-ukraine/31847737.html

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.