The so-called Russian peacekeeping forces in Transnistria are accused of grossly violating the commitments made within the framework of the United Control Commission (UCC), Chisinau’s Ziarul Naţional reports on Thursday, citing Agerpres.

The Russian military, with the consent of the separatist regime in Tiraspol at the end of 2023, conducted military exercises at the posts of the United Peacekeeping Forces using weapons and military equipment, without notifying the KUC.

The members of the delegation of the Republic of Moldova in this commission, led by Sergiu Holovaci, signed a statement condemning this incident on Thursday in Tighina, during the first meeting of the CUC this year.

“The actions are dated December 22, 2023 at the posts of the Mixed Peacekeeping Forces, outside the deployment points, with the use of weapons, military equipment and machinery. We were not even informed about some equipment that it would be in the military contingent. Two military chiefs were present at the scene, who also violated the regulations, as they did not have permission from the Joint Military Command. At the same time, representatives of the Russian Federation and the Transnistrian region blocked the movement of military observers to document the incidents,” Chisinau representatives claim, reports ZiarulNational.md.

According to Chisinau, the relevant exercises “had a negative impact on the residents of nearby towns”, who expressed concern about possible unwanted tension in the security zone.

And the OSCE mission was prevented from carrying out the inspection

Also, representatives of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Moldova during Thursday’s CCU meeting reported on new obstacles from Tiraspol regarding the implementation of the principles of cooperation between this organization and the ECC.

Thus, in December 2023 and January 2024, monitoring groups of the OSCE Mission did not pass through the infrastructure of the illegal posts of the Transnistrian structures established between the settlements of Proteahailovka and Garbovets, Dubesari and Koshnytsia, and also waited for 30 minutes at the illegal post Tigina-Varnytsia.

“These serious violations occur even if the OSCE Mission notifies in advance about the movement of its representatives. The OSCE mission qualifies Tiraspol’s request to send such messages as a violation of its mandate and asked to involve the CUC in ensuring the freedom of movement of its teams in order to effectively fulfill its mandate,” the CUC statement also said.

Also today, the head of the delegation of the Republic of Moldova, Serhiu Golovatsi, was approved as the co-chairman of the Unified Control Commission, the Chisinau National Newspaper notes.