The Ukrainian leadership “demonstrates its readiness to intervene in the situation in Transnistria, including by force,” while Russia will be guided by the mandate of the security of its military personnel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with TASS on Tuesday.

Sergey LavrovPhoto: Oleksandr Zemlyanichenko / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia
  • “The Ukrainian leadership plays its extremely negative role and, violating its status as a mediator, has clearly sided with Chisinau and supports its destructive aspirations regarding Transnistria in every possible way.
  • They are digging defense structures and fortifications between Ukraine and Transnistria and in every possible way demonstrate their readiness to intervene in this process, including by force.
  • I want to say once again that Russia is responsible for security in Transnistria (no – the Dnistrian Moldavian Republic, that’s the name the separatist forces gave to the self-proclaimed political entity in Transnistria), in full accordance with the mandate of our military. We will be guided by this mandate,” Lavrov said.

Transnistria, a strip of territory that broke away from the Republic of Moldova in the early 1990s, sits on Ukraine’s western border, and has become the subject of heightened tensions over the past month.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly accused Kyiv of “preparing” for an “invasion” of Transnistria, claiming that Ukraine has mobilized “military personnel and equipment” near Transnistria, as well as “the deployment of artillery firing positions and an unprecedented increase in hostilities.” flights of Ukrainian drones” over the territory.

Since the end of February, Russia has threatened to “respond to any provocations” by the Ukrainian military in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, where it has a military contingent. Any action that poses a “threat” to Russian military personnel stationed in Transnistria “will be considered an attack on the Russian Federation,” Moscow insisted.

Earlier, the pro-European authorities in Chisinau accused Moscow of trying to provoke a coup in the Republic of Moldova.