The so-called Ministry of Defense in Tiraspol has announced the start of recruitment among “peacekeepers” in Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist region of the Republic of Moldova. Thus, from March 1, for three months, men under the age of 55 who are fit for military service will participate in the military training of the “peacekeepers” contingent, desdechi.md writes.

The Kishinev publication writes that the so-called Transnistrian Ministry of Defense lures men from the separatist region with money, clothes, accommodation and food. They will be paid monthly 2,800 Transnistrian rubles, which is approximately 3,000 Moldovan lei.

• “The peacekeeping contingent from Transnistria continues to accept applications for participation in the next three-month camp, starting on March 1,” reads the message quoted by the Russian state agency TASS, Unimedia also writes.

The peacekeeping mission in the security zone consists of Russian and Moldovan military and Transnistrian paramilitary formations. It was created after the signing on July 21, 1992 by the then President of Russia Boris Yeltsin and his colleague Mircea Snegur of the Agreement on the Principles of Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict in Transnistria, desdechi.md reminds.

Russia, the “warning” of the USA, NATO and Ukraine

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 in recent weeks.

Last Thursday, the Ministry of Defense of Russia accused Kyiv of “preparation” for an “invasion” of Transnistria.

Russian diplomacy expanded its message on Friday, claiming that Ukraine had massed “military personnel and equipment” near Transnistria and that there had been “deployment of artillery firing positions and an unprecedented increase in Ukrainian drone flights” over the territory.

Russia has threatened to “respond” to any Ukrainian military “provocation” in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova, where it has a military contingent.

• “Let there be no doubt: the armed forces of the Russian Federation will give an adequate response to any provocations by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Any action that poses a “threat” to Russian military personnel stationed in Transnistria “will be considered an attack on the Russian Federation,” Moscow insisted.

The Republic of Moldova rejected the existence of a “direct threat” from Ukraine to the separatist region of Transnistria.

The rise in tension comes after new Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recan recently called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria, angering the Kremlin.

The pro-European authorities in Chisinau previously accused Moscow of trying to organize a coup d’état in Moldova.