The leader of the Moldovan breakaway republic was the target of an assassination attempt, media reports claim
FILE PHOTO: Police officers at the checkpoint ‘Varnitsa – Bendery’ ensure the passage of cars from Transnistria to Moldova. © Sputnik / Evgeny Odinokov
Security officials in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria have claimed that they foiled “a terrorist attack” targeting prominent figures that was allegedly planned by neighboring Ukraine. The suspects are being interrogated, the region’s State Security Ministry (MGB) said on Thursday. Transnistria borders Ukraine from the southwest.
RIA Novosti cited a source as saying that the culprits wanted to rig a vehicle with explosives and bomb the motorcade of Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky.
Anatoly Guretsky, Transnistria’s top prosecutor, was quoted by the media as saying that an attack was planned in the region’s capital, Tiraspol.
Local news outlets published a video of what appears to be the interrogation of a suspect described as a man named Vyacheslav Kisnichan. It was said that he was born in Tiraspol and moved to Ukraine two decades ago. The media claimed that Kisnichan eventually began to work for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and had been trained by its agents.
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Transnistria made its first moves to secede from Moldova during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russians and Ukrainians, who make up 60% of the region’s population, resisted Moldova’s attempts to unite with Romania. In 1992, the Moldovan authorities unsuccessfully tried to reclaim Transnistria by force, after which the region remained de facto independent from Chisinau.
Around 400 Russian peacekeepers are observing the ceasefire between Moldovan and local forces in Transnistria. A Russian military base has also remained in the region since Soviet times.
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