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Washington came with Moldovan trump cards, what should we do?
Frankly, I was waiting for just such a step. Especially after stories with Rogozin. To maintain pressure on Russia, Washington still has not many options. Sanctions are beautiful, catchy and pretentious for journalistic press conferences, but practice has shown that for Russia they what an elephant's grains.
No, of course there is a certain effect from sanctions. For it cannot be said that they have no effect on us at all. There are certainly difficulties of their own. However, instead of an inglorious death under their yoke, the Russian leadership continues to conduct a very interesting master class on the “Russian style”, which is effective mix from aiki-do, subtle trolling, asymmetrical geometry with a crowbar, thick indifference and a fair admixture of “Faberge footstools” (including with the help of “ichtamnets”, “calibres” and visits of the VKS). As a result, Europe is sad, America is hysterical, and the width of the Russians' happy smile is only increasing. It's disgusting to watch from Washington.
And most importantly, all the previously taken measures failed to force Putin come to war. At least to some of the imposed ones. There were many options to choose from, although the main one was, of course, considered Ukrainian. But instead of war, Moscow gracefully took Crimea and locked Ukraine in an ironclad "Minsk Process" cage. Although everyone today complains about the ineffectiveness of the “Minsk agreements”, after their conclusion not a single battalion tactical group, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces still have more than a dozen of them, has not moved beyond the demarcation line by even half a track. And that is all. No Russian exit for you tank wedges to Kyiv. No massive landing of “blue berets” in Galicia. No Russian “black berets” landing on Odessa beaches. Simply outrageous!
But the Russians brazenly came to their home to Syria, where the Americans didn’t invite them, and literally in three months they were spoiled for all the raspberries there. Yes, it’s so dashing that two of the three sponsors of the local barmaleys who bustled there - Türkiye and Qatar - today these barmaleys themselves are handed over for distribution literally in commercial quantities. Things have reached the point where the American plan the creation of a “Middle Eastern NATO” was covered with a bang and a roar.
So the chess position literally demanded an attempt at some kind of strike from a new direction. But their choice remained extremely narrow. Or destabilize Central Asia, or... reactivate the last remaining unresolved “old post-Soviet conflict” in Transnistria. The first required a lot of time for preparation, and this resource is already in acute shortage in the United States today. Putin can afford not to give a response to the diplomatic chaos of the State Department for half a year, but Trump can no longer spend a couple or three years preparing a high-quality Maidan in Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan or Tajikistan. And after Ukraine, it’s not a fact that the recipe will work at all. Unlike Yanukovych, local Presidents are not known for being excessively soft-hearted and indecisive. They will roll their children into the asphalt faster than they can say the word “hamburger” in the American capital.
This is how the only point of American attack possible under the given conditions was localized by simple exclusion. Transnistria.
One and a half thousand Russian military personnel in Transnistria are not “peacekeepers,” but a group to maintain instability around Ukraine, said the commander of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges. Against the backdrop of declaring Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata in Moldova, this sounds like a threat. Chisinau openly breaks off relations with Moscow and opens a NATO office.
Moldova is even less independent than Ukraine. And even more so in terms of the sanity of its ruling elites. In turn, the direction itself, to Western eyes, looks very attractive. A typical region with negative connectivity. This means that it needs to be protected, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible. In this case The situation for us is complicated geopolitically. Transnistria has no access to the sea and is completely surrounded by Ukrainian and Moldovan territories. That is, it is actually in complete isolation. Just an ideal target for an attack.
Russia cannot abandon him to the mercy of fate for a number of reasons. important reasons. From banal image-related to downright geopolitical. Including internal ones. Action support Russian authorities growing as obvious successes of the strategic line they implement accumulate. But, as always happens, a major public defeat can plunge a nation into either total despondency or no less uncontrollable hysteria. Both options are bad. The first significantly reduces the ability of society to resist enemy pressure and continue the fight, considering its cause to be just. The second... is even worse, since it will create a hysterical demand of the people for the authorities to immediately start a war. To show... To finally let them know... To “how long can you tolerate their impudence!”... And the war of the Russians against any of the former fraternal Soviet peoples this is exactly what the United States has been pushing Russia towards since the events of August 2008.
In general, the United States tried to play trump cards, but the question arises: how scared should we be of this statement?
On the verge of a “hot phase”: Transnistria “under the escalation dome” of NATO. Attempts at dialogue have been exhausted!
Based on the events of recent days, we can draw a very disappointing conclusion that the worst-case scenario for the development of events around the temporarily smoldering Moldovan-Transnistrian conflict has been launched, and that in the foreseeable future we may be faced with a fairly large-scale multilateral military clash, both in the vicinity of the Dniester estuary, and on the territory the entire southwestern part of the Square, including Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson regions. The escalation can occur either in temporary connection with the escalation in the Donbass theater of military operations, where the DPR army has already begun the slow and steady pushback of Ukrainian militants from the outskirts of Donetsk and Mariupol, or regardless of the tactical situation in Novorossiya. In both the first and second cases, the “fas” command will sound from Washington or Brussels at a strictly verified moment by Western specialists, interpreted as the next and irrefutable “casus belli”. This is exactly what the West has been actively doing over the last century.
The choice of Moldova as one of the main geostrategic “poles” of the confrontation Russian influence in Eastern Europe is determined by a combination of profitable geographical location state (next to the more powerful, in terms of combat potential, an anti-Russian puppet state - Ukraine) with an extremely successful form of government - a parliamentary republic. These factors create unique fertile ground for the West to accelerate the implementation of the plan to remove all post-Soviet states “on the path of turmoil and war” in relations with the Russian Federation, which should ultimately lead to the involvement of our state’s armed forces in several large and protracted conflicts in the Eastern European theater of operations, which are quite capable of weakening the defensive capabilities of the Southern and Western military districts.
Moscow has no opportunity to abstract itself from these conflicts, because in this case the situation will only worsen. Firstly, we will be expected total loss friendly and allied territories with a pro-Russian electorate completely disappointed and partially exterminated by enemy regimes. Secondly, selected units of the United Nations will be immediately deployed in these territories. NATO Armed Forces who are already receiving today best samples armored vehicles for assault and offensive operations. A striking example preparatory work The North Atlantic Alliance's commitment to large-scale combat operations in the European theater of operations is a hasty upgrade of the main battle tanks M1A2 "Abrams" at the 7th training ground of the US Armed Forces in Grafenwoehr, Germany, to a highly protected version of TUSK ("Tank Urban Survival Kit"), designed for successful operation in theater areas, saturated with enemy anti-tank weapons.
Let's return to the situation around Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. As mentioned above, the parliamentary form of government in Moldova almost completely limits the capabilities of the newly elected president of the republic. In particular, despite the more or less pro-Russian vector of the current President Igor Dodon, the pro-Western position of Chisinau is only strengthening, and Dodon cannot oppose anything to the parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers of Moldova has no legal capacity. For example, at an April press conference, the completely pro-NATO Prime Minister of Moldova Pavel Filip said that the memorandum of cooperation between Moldova and the EAEU signed by Dodon has absolutely no legal force. Moreover, procedures such as the appointment or removal of ministers, the appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court, the ratification of any international treaties (including economic and military-technical cooperation) without confirmation from parliament, etc. In other words, against the backdrop of a legislatively supported nationalist pro-European majority (having decisive legal force) in the Moldovan parliament, the president is perceived as an ordinary “opposition upstart.” Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening in practice today.
Take, for example, the recent sensational incident with the ban on the use of Romanian and Hungarian airspace, as well as the Chisinau airport for the transit of an airliner to Moldova with a high-ranking delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister, the curator of the military-industrial complex and the special representative of the Russian President for Transnistria Dmitry Rogozin. The crew of the plane, which also included a group of artists heading to the celebrations in honor of the 25th anniversary of the peacekeeping operation in Transnistria, had to make a “detour” through Minsk, using up the last remaining fuel. The fact is that Dmitry Rogozin is on the so-called “sanctions list” of the EU, which is very regularly supervised by such henchmen and “NATO bedding” as Bucharest, Budapest and Chisinau represented by the Moldovan Cabinet.
As for the situation with the S7 Airlines, it has become very revealing. All Dodon could do was angrily scold the Moldovan government, calling its actions “a cheap show and a geopolitical game to curry favor with the United States and NATO.” But if everything were so simple and harmless... In reality, Moscow was shown who is boss, also this inadequate action can be interpreted as a warning about tougher actions against the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the near future. And this is far from fiction and a sick militaristic fantasy, but real reality.
It is quite obvious that official Chisinau does not imagine peaceful coexistence with Tiraspol for a second and almost openly announces the future forceful scenario of subjugation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. It remains to eliminate the only significant tactical barrier - the Operational group of Russian troops in the Transnistrian region (OGRV PRRM). IN this moment The Moldovan “elite” has already used some tools to complicate the process of rotation of the Russian group of 1,412 military personnel belonging to one battalion of peacekeeping forces and two battalions of military unit No. 13962 (OGRV), as well as blocking delivery additional weapons on board military transport aircraft. Not only do the only weapons of the PMR army and our peacekeeping contingent remain only the artillery arsenals in the village. Sausage, to carry out rotation you now need to use airplanes civil aviation operating flights to Chisinau airport, which becomes increasingly less safe, since the Moldovan border police are more meticulous in “punching through” the documentation of passengers arriving from the Russian Federation and often identify and deport our peacekeepers back to Russia. The most memorable incident occurred on May 21, 2015, when, after checking documents, reserve sergeant Evgeniy Shashin was deported from Moldova, heading to Tiraspol to serve in the 13962nd military unit as an MCO shooter.
As we see, at the moment our OGRF is in extreme difficult situation, which is akin to a tactical “cauldron”. In the event of the slightest provocative action on the borders of the PMR, an extremely unpleasant situation can occur: the territory of a small republic can be wiped off the face of the earth in just the first few hours of escalation of the conflict. The fact is that maximum depths rear zones of the PMR reach about 20-30 km, and in area three tactical “isthmuses” near the settlement Rashkovo, Zhurka and Novovladimirovka do not exceed 4-5 km. This suggests that even the central sections of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic are within the radius of confident destruction of large-caliber barrel and rocket artillery of the Armed Forces of Moldova and Ukraine. Against the Armed Forces of the PMR and Russian peacekeepers Dozens of 9K51 Grad and 9K57 Uragan MLRS combat vehicles, D-30, Msta-B and Akatsiya howitzers can be used, taking the unrecognized republic into a tight ring from the territory of Moldova and Ukraine. In the areas of the above tactical “isthmuses”, numerically superior Moldovan military formations, with the support of Romanian and Ukrainian nationalists with NATO instructors, will have the opportunity to divide the territory of the PMR into 4 sections, the clearing of which will take no more than two weeks using Moldovan-Ukrainian military resources, and only 4 - 5 days - with Romanian military support, of which there is no doubt.
The Armed Forces of Moldova also have at their disposal 152-mm long-range 2A36 Giatsint-B cannons, capable of firing at a range of 33.5 km when using OF-59 active-missile projectiles
Tiraspol will be able to snap back well", because the PMR army has at its disposal about a hundred "Grads", 30 100-mm anti-tank guns 2A29 "Rapier" and 85-mm divisional guns D-44, as well as a large number of anti-tank missile systems and RPG; The PMR will not be able to undertake anything more significant due to the lack of proper weapons and the required number of weapons, as well as the small number personnel military units; in comparison with the People's Militia Corps of the LDPR, the PMR army looks very, very faded. We should not forget that many people will participate in the coming massacre. Western European PMCs, who have excellent experience in carrying out lightning-fast tactical military operations, which will require Moscow to act quickly and decisively to protect our military contingent and friendly republic.
An important point is that significant support from Moldova in preparing a forceful scenario for the “reintegration” of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic "Nezalezhnaya" is already exerting today. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, this is the transfer of artillery units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the borders of the PMR. Secondly, this is the deployment of Moldovan border guards, customs officers and military contingent at Ukrainian checkpoints in the Odessa region. Thus, they plan to deploy the first Moldovan-Ukrainian contingent at the Kuchurgany - Pervomaisk checkpoint already in 2017. The third, most dangerous and provocative, action of Kyiv was the deployment in the vicinity of the Dniester estuary and Odessa two S-300PS medium-range anti-aircraft missile battalions and several more Buk-M1 divisions. Together with the modernized Romanian air defense systems “Hawk PIP-3R” located near the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the Ukrainian complexes completely block all air approaches to the PMR from the neutral side airspace over the Black Sea. Very soon it will be possible to add to them 8 Patriot PAC-3 air defense systems purchased by Bucharest", which will lead to the loss of the only and simple route for the transfer of Russian Airborne Forces units to the banks of the Dniester, as well as the delivery of modern anti-tank systems and counter-battery radars artillery reconnaissance to create a highly effective defensive line of the PMR, capable of quickly suppressing the firing positions of Ukrainian and Moldavian artillery.
If we think more objectively, everything modern weapons To protect the PMR, it was necessary to deliver it to the region long before the creation of a strong air defense line over the Odessa region began, but time was wasted, and now in order to maintain the status of an influential superpower, Russia will have to resort to radical measures. To “clear” the ground and air corridors to Tiraspol, a comprehensive offensive operation will be required in the southern section of the Odessa region. Key role will belong here shock component Black Sea Fleet Russian Navy(diesel-electric submarines of the Halibut and Varshavyanka classes and frigates of Project 11356), which will cause strategic cruise missiles 3M14T "Caliber-PL" dagger strikes on Ukrainian and Moldavian military units south of Chernomorsk (it is in this direction that a powerful defensive outpost will be built, represented by the Moldavian-Romanian-Ukrainian contingent for the blockade of the PMR).
Considering the presence of Ukrainian “Trekhsotok” missiles covering the airspace above the Dniester estuary, there may be a need to conduct an anti-radar operation. For these purposes, super-maneuverable multi-role fighters Su-30SM 38th Fighter Aviation Regiment, deployed at the Crimean Belbek airbase. Their arsenal includes such high-quality air attack weapons as 4-mkhov anti-radar missiles X-58U with a range of up to 250 km with high-altitude launch, a family of multi-purpose tactical missiles X-38 and high precision tactical missiles X-59MK2, equipped with a “smart” correlation-optical homing head. After launching massive anti-radar strikes on Ukrainian 30N6 illumination radars S-300PS, it will be possible to open an air corridor for the transfer of airborne units to the southern borders of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic; it will also be possible to “clean up” the remaining formations of the Moldovan army and the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack aircraft Russian Aerospace Forces.
The situation around the Moldovan-Transnistrian conflict will become more complicated by leaps and bounds, in direct proportion to the worsening situation in Donbass. Moreover, the likelihood of providing Kyiv with anti-tank missile systems and short-range air defense systems is growing, which will only increase the degree of recklessness of the Ukrainian “elite”. The most correct tactics for Transnistria were outlined by the President of the Institute national strategy Mikhail Remizov. His idea is to present a strict ultimatum to the Moldovan authorities, according to which Chisinau should not interfere with the work of the “transit corridor” for the rotation of the OGRF in the PMR. If it is not fulfilled, Russia will have the full right to a forceful asymmetric response. There is no other approach to resolving this situation today ( there are options, see the first article approx. RuAN
The growth of centrifugal tendencies in the Soviet Union provoked a conflict around Transnistria on the territory of Moldova near its border with Ukraine. The Transnistria region was the most developed part of the former Moldavian SSR. It is located on the left bank of the Dniester (Left Bank) and is populated in approximately equal proportions by Russians, Ukrainians and Moldovans. After the national-state demarcation in the USSR in the 20s of the XX century. on this part of the former Russian Empire The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR. Tiraspol became its capital.
After Romania returned Bessarabia to the Soviet Union in 1940 (see vol. 1 present, ed.), the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was united with Bessarabia and transformed into the Moldavian SSR, the capital of which was Chisinau. In Romania and in certain sections of the Moldovan population, the opinion remained that Bessarabia was “torn off” from Romania illegally and that Moldova should therefore sooner or later unite with Romania. At the time of “perestroika,” sentiments in favor of unification revived. The Romanian government did not officially express territorial claims to the USSR.
In 1989, in the wake of the “sovereignization” of the union republics of the USSR, the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR adopted a law on the state language, which envisaged the curtailment of the use of the Russian language in the republic and the introduction of the Romanian language, which was recognized as the state language of Moldova. The Russian and Ukrainian population of Moldova reacted sharply to the innovations; the Left Bank became the center of public discontent.
In 1990, the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR, where the majority began to be non-communists, invalidated the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” and the related Soviet-German agreements, on the basis of which, as is commonly believed, the USSR achieved the return of Bessarabia. These decisions could be interpreted as indicating the illegality of its transition to Soviet control. Public opinion The Left Bank considered that the government in Chisinau was preparing to raise the issue of unification with Romania.
The non-Moldavian population was confident that in the event of unification with Romania, the Romanian-Moldovan state would (♦) include the territory of the former Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was not part of Bessarabia and never belonged to Romania. A movement against unification with Romania arose in Transnistria. Attempts by nationalist circles in Chisinau to speed up integration with Romania exacerbated contradictions between different ethnic groups in Moldova. In the fall of 1990, the “Transnistrian Moldavian Republic” (PMR) was proclaimed in Transnistria with its capital in Tiraspol.
At first, its leadership proposed that Chisinau conclude a federal agreement and transform Moldova into a federal state. After the central government refused to consider this project, the PMR recalled the deputies representing the regions included in it from the Moldovan parliament and began to issue its own laws that contradict the Moldovan constitution. The Moldovan authorities introduced economic sanctions against the Transnistrians.
Liberal circles of the USSR in 1990-1991. considered Transnistria a “communist reserve” and did not support its leaders. Since November 1990, Moldovan law enforcement agencies have been trying to regain control over Transnistria with the help of police forces. But the local population resisted these attempts, using methods of “peaceful seizure” of administrative institutions and government facilities. Women were active participants in the protests of the Transnistrian population.
The situation became more tense when, at the end of 1991, the Supreme Council of Moldova adopted the Declaration of Independence. The leadership of Transnistria proclaimed the “independence” of the PMR. Moldova did not recognize it and began to lean towards the need to restore the integrity of the republic by force. At the same time, the Moldavian army did not exist, the government had only police forces at its disposal, and in Transnistria there already existed militia groups (“guards”) numbering about 10 thousand people. In Moldova, combat units of “volunteers” also began to form.
The situation was complicated by the presence of the 14th Soviet Army in Transnistria. Army units could be drawn into the conflict, since a significant part of the army's officer corps consisted of natives of Transnistria and people who had settled there for a long time. The military personnel were officers Soviet army, citizens of Moldova and at the same time residents of the PMR. The Moldovan authorities, heads of administrative bodies of Transnistria and Transnistrian “guardsmen” laid claim to the army equipment.
On March 1, 1992, Moldovan militants attacked one of the military units the former Soviet army on the right bank of the Dniester in order to seize weapons. With this skirmish the military stage of the conflict began. On March 17, the Moldovan parliament adopted a law on the creation of the armed forces. On March 28, a state of emergency was declared in the country. The fighting took place between units of the newly formed national army of Moldova and Moldovan-Romanian volunteers, on the one hand, and the Transnistrian “guards” and units of the 14th based in Transnistria Russian army, with another. A particularly tense situation developed in the city of Bendery, the majority of whose residents were in favor of joining the PMR, although the city is located on the right bank of the Dniester.
Without clear orders from the command, the leadership of the 14th Army hesitated, unwilling to accept responsibility for the use of force. The Russian leadership found itself in a delicate position in connection with the Transnistrian conflict. There were many supporters of Transnistria's independence in society. There were anti-Moldovan sentiments in Ukraine. A concentration of Russian-Ukrainian volunteer fighters began in Transnistria. On the Moldovan side, along with units of the regular Moldovan army, units of Moldovan-Romanian “volunteers” also began to converge on the administrative borders of Transnistria.
In April 1992, Russian President B.N. Yeltsin risked issuing a decree transferring the 14th Soviet Army under Russian jurisdiction. The next day, the officers' meeting of the 14th Army decided to put an end to the bloodshed in Transnistria, declaring that if provocations were not stopped by April 12, 1992 and negotiations to resolve the conflict did not begin, then the Russian army units would begin to “act according to the situation.” This was an ultimatum from the army command to the warring parties.
Political contacts between Tiraspol and Chisinau have resumed. However, in Chisinau the “war party” prevailed. On June 19, 1992, additional units of the Moldovan army and “volunteers” were introduced into the city of Bendery. The fighting became more fierce. Many civilians died. 70 thousand refugees left the Bender region. Transnistrian formations, using the equipment of the 14th Army, were able to stop the advance of the Moldovan troops. The leadership of the armed forces of Moldova began to ask for reinforcements.
In such a situation, the President of Russia appointed General A.I. Lebed as commander of the 14th Army. The new commander immediately demanded to stop attempts to resolve the Transnistrian issue by force, declaring the readiness of the army units entrusted to him, if necessary, to transfer hostilities to the territory of Right Bank Moldova. It was believed that General A.I. Lebed acted at his own discretion, but later it became known that his demarche was secretly sanctioned by Moscow. A.I. Lebed gave the order to the forces of the 14th Army to push the Moldovan and Transnistrian formations away from their line of contact and to place the Russian contingent in the resulting corridor. An operation was carried out to separate the troops. The conflict was frozen.
On July 21, 1992, negotiations were held in Moscow, as a result of which it was possible to sign a Russian-Moldovan agreement on the principles of a peaceful settlement. Tripartite peace-(♦)creative forces of representatives of the two Moldovan parties and Russia were created. On the administrative border of Transnistria and Moldova, a security belt 220 km long and 10-20 km wide was formed on both sides of the Dniester. The leadership of the peacekeeping forces was entrusted to the tripartite settlement commission.
Moscow's support for the Transnistrian side complicated the implementation of plans for the unification of Moldova with Romania. But the ceasefire did not resolve any of the issues that started the conflict. The presence of the 14th Army in the region stabilized the situation, but also complicated the settlement. The Transnistrian leadership, feeling under the protection of the Russian military, persisted in rejecting Chisinau’s compromise proposals. The influence that A.I. Lebed acquired in Transnistria caused his conflict with the leadership of the unrecognized republic. In 1995, General A.I. Lebed was recalled from Transnistria.
The Constitution of Moldova, adopted in 1994, secured the status of autonomy for Transnistria. But this did not satisfy the Transnistrians, who insisted on more serious guarantees of their right not to join a union with Romania under any circumstances. At the beginning of 1997, with the mediation of Russia, negotiations began between Chisinau and Tiraspol on a final settlement of the situation. They ended on May 8, 1997 with the signing in Moscow of a memorandum on the basis for the normalization of relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistrian Republic. The parties were able to reach a compromise - they agreed to build relations within the framework common state, within the borders of the Moldavian SSR in January 1990. However, there was no final settlement of the conflict.
The withdrawal from Transnistria of units of the former 14th Army and its military equipment, according to the decisions of the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, was supposed to be completed before 2001. But a final agreement on this issue could not be reached due to the position of Transnistria. On the territory of the latter there remains a large number of weapons of the former 14th Russian Army, the possession of which Tiraspol claims. Moscow and Chisinau are against this. The stay of Russian troops in Transnistria was extended until 2003.
Don't be sad that you're doomedAfter all, we are soldiers of the great war.
(A. Bredikhin).
Everyone dies the same way
if the bullet hits the target.
By chance, not significant
everyone is being targeted...
(A. Dmitruk).
Foreword by Denis Diderot.
This conflict, like a mirror, reflected what is happening today in the East of Little Russia. The same thievery and meanness of the top people who seized power in time during that difficult time. And the selfless courage and dedication of ordinary people defending their Soviet identity and right to life. And the right to speak and think as he wants. And just as now, and then, the Kremlin elders - dreamers, used this civil conflict to their advantage 100%, leaving the common people with nothing.
The history of this conflict is still waiting for its patient researchers; unfortunately, most of the cases on the people who made history back then are closed in special storage facilities and are classified as secret and will not soon be opened to the general public. Just like the background of certain events and decisions, we most likely will not know soon. Even the most complete number of victims on both sides of that conflict, both for civilians and for military participants in that conflict, is still not known. The numbers vary widely, from 809 to 4,500 thousand people, from different sources writing about that unknown and unfamiliar war to the general reader.
I, in my preface, because the LiveJournal format does not allow a little, a lot, I want to talk about several little-known facts of that little-known military conflict to the general public.
For example, at that time there was a lot of talk about the participation in hostilities of the so-called “white tights” - female biathletes from the Baltic states. So, as a rule, it all ends with the fact that everyone has heard about them, but no one has ever seen them. But there is evidence former speaker State Duma I.P. Rybkin, who even gave an interview to the New York newspaper “In the New World”. The correspondent asks him: “You spoke about blond snipers from the Baltic states during the war in Transnistria. Could you provide at least one proof of their existence?
Rybkin answers him: “Why? I came to Transnistria under a false name with my rank of reserve captain. And I know that when General Lebed arrived there under the pseudonym “Colonel Gusev,” he was primarily engaged in snipers. He “removed” more than thirty snipers before taking command of the army. Only then did the panic on the streets of Bender end.”
Also, an airborne special forces battalion, under the command of Colonel V.M. Prokopenko, from the 45th regiment, who arrived with Lebed, quickly restored order in the combat zone in the PMR, blocking all roads in the area of responsibility of the 14th Army. After this, all criminal manifestations in the combat zone and in the rear populated areas, sharply declined. Literally in one day order was restored. What has not happened so far in the combat zone in Donbass. And this, no matter how it applies to General Lebed in his further actions and actions, alone deserves respect. In an interview with the Russian news agency National News Service (May 18, 1996), A.I. Lebed said: “I deployed this commandant’s office completely, captured the city, all shooting immediately stopped, all robberies immediately stopped, all drunks with weapons were detained and isolated.” Subsequently, many PMR law enforcement officers who disagreed with the policy of the republic’s leadership went to serve in the commandant’s office. From the book by A.V. Kozlov and V.N. Chernobrivoy “Unconquered Transnistria. Lessons from military conflict." By the way, the Tiraspol commandant’s office at that time was headed by M.M. Bergman, who later became infamous. Lebed was personally supported and supported at the very top by the Chief of the General Staff V. Dubynin.
And by the way, the airborne special forces battalion was engaged not only in establishing order in the army’s area of responsibility. Every night groups of special forces went to the other Moldovan side. Whose orders they carried out, in whose games they acted as dangerous pawns or queens, remains unknown to anyone in this strange war. Those who sent them (A.I. Lebed, N.P. Garidov, S.F. Kharlamov) who could answer where they went and why are no longer alive. All of them, strangely enough, did not die a natural death. But one thing is certain: the wreckage of the downed Moldavian MiG 29, in particular the antenna and the remains of the wing, was obtained by one of these groups. Our side was also aware of the widespread support provided to the Moldovan side by Ukraine and Romania, in particular, the activity of transport aviation in neighboring Romania. Its transport planes transported weapons and ammunition for the Moldovan army. Transnistrian armed forces tried to fight them. They were armed with a number of air defense systems, including such as MANPADS, stolen from the warehouses of the 14th Army. There were also specialists who were fluent in these weapons and resigned from the ranks of the Russian army. In particular, at the beginning of 1992, Lieutenant Ilya Kulik from the Igla MANPADS shot down a Romanian An-24 military transport aircraft. Also, the supreme leadership of Ukraine has pointedly distanced itself from the PMR. Along the border, armored personnel carriers were placed in hastily dug caponiers, with their barrels pointed towards Tiraspol. The feeling, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses and participants in that war, was not a pleasant one, when machine guns are looking at your back, ready to open fire at any moment. Strongly reminiscent of the situation on the modern border between Russia and Ukraine. You involuntarily begin to think that you are a hostage in some dirty and incomprehensible game. Also, four Mi-8 and one Mi-24 were urgently transferred separate squadron National Guard of Ukraine. These vehicles were based at the Vapnyarka airfield and at the Red Windows airfield. For three months, fourteen crews were engaged in transferring blocking groups and transporting material resources. Ukrainian MiG-29 interceptors took off several times to oust Romanian transport workers from their own airspace. Moreover, they were forced out in such a way that they dropped supplies to their troops in Bendery and sent sabotage groups to the rear of the PMR troops.
Also, I am extremely interested in bright and mysterious person battalion commander Yu.A. Kostenko, according to some sources, a major, according to others, a reserve lieutenant colonel. Apparently, depending on the situation, he presented himself either this way or that way. Further, it is known that he commanded an airborne battalion in Afghanistan and was awarded two military orders. According to one source, dismissed from the ranks of the Soviet army for offenses incompatible with the high rank of an officer. In 1986, a criminal case was opened for abuse of official position (beating subordinates) and illegal hunting. However, the case was dropped following a call from Moscow. In 1988, a new criminal case - already in connection with the commission car accident able alcohol intoxication. According to other sources, he was transferred to the reserve due to illness. The conclusion of the military medical commission dated July 3, 1989. The diagnosis is the consequences of repeated closed brain injuries with asthenoneurological syndrome. Was recognized as fit for non-combatant duty military service V Peaceful time, and limited suitability of the first degree in war time. Of course, he was an extraordinary, strong-willed and strong personality. Back in October 1991, having With only a seal and the building of a dilapidated school for deployment, he managed to gather and prepare four hundred people by June 1992. And under pressure under pressure from the public of the city of Bendery (the Council of Labor Collectives) and the women's strike committee, Kostenko was appointed commander of the guard battalion. This battalion became the most combat-ready unit of the armed forces of Transnistria. In total, three battalions were formed. And again, different authors have different interpretations here, some the first battalion was formed in Bendery, the second in Tiraspol and the third in Rybnitsa. And since the battalion in Bendery was formed by Kostenko, his battalion is called the first by number. Other authors, in particular V.N. Chernobrivy, say that Kostenko commanded the second battalion in Bendery. Where the truth is, God knows. Further, again there are continuous discrepancies and mysteries, some sources write that Bendery was defended by Kostenko with his battalion, others that they were Cossacks, and still others that they were units of the 14th Army of Russia. Although there is also a version that it was Kostenko’s people who provoked the conflict on June 19. Since after appointing himself to the position of, in fact, commandant, Bender imagined himself irreplaceable and, having a “roof” in the person of the security service and the leadership of Transnistria, did whatever he wanted on the territory of the city of Bender.
Here is what, for example, the chairman of the city executive committee V.V. said about this. Kogut: “I can’t say that the executive committee didn’t know about his crimes, they just treated him opportunistically. I must admit that at the defense committee I also defended Kostenko, although later I told him to his face that over time the court would figure out what he had done and whose instructions he was following. When information about his affairs began to reach me, I informed those who were supposed to be involved in this, but soon I became convinced that all my messages also reached Kostenko.” One thing is undoubtedly the first to come to the aid of the Transnistrian police were the guardsmen of the battalion of the Transnistrian Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Yu.A. Kostenko.
On April 29, the prosecutor of the republic transfers to the president I.N. Smirnov information, which on two and a half sheets describes in detail all the crimes committed by Kostenko that were proven at that time, and asks to take measures to detain the battalion commander.
Kostenko understood perfectly well that sooner or later he would have to answer for his crimes and the best way out from this situation there will be an armed incident that would provoke an armed confrontation between the warring parties. For his arrest On the basis of the 2nd RG battalion, even a special forces group was formed; it had only 14 people, but they were armed, compared to the rest, very well. In addition to machine guns, they were given an RPG-26 and a pistol. There were also two boxes of grenades for the entire group, not counting huge amount cartridges. At the same time, at the same time, an untrained person could be sent to the position with an AKS-74u and a handful of cartridges. Such generosity was explained simply - one of their main tasks was the hunt for Yu. Kostenko. Moreover, all of them were volunteers from Russia, since the locals could give Kostenko the plans of the PMR leadership to eliminate him. ( A. Kotov. The Toy War of the Banana Republics). Isn’t today’s elimination of Dremov, Mozgovoy and Bednov so reminiscent?
Also, another attempt was made to eliminate Kostenko.After heavy fighting in the city, in order to preserve his battalion, Kostenko began a retreat on June 23-24. Taking into account the fact that all the trophies and ammunition, in particular, obtained as a result of the capture from the warehouses of the 14th Army, the first 10 tanks, ten to twelve infantry fighting vehicles and about the same number of armored personnel carriers and BRDMs appeared in the PMR guard. But neither Kostenko nor his fighters received anything from these weapons at that time, just as they did not receive any reinforcements at all. When the battalion approached the bridge over the Dniester, fire was opened on it from the fortress in which units of the 14th Army were located. They also beat me from the opposite side of the road from the chemical battalion location. As a result of the fire, the battalion lost about a hundred personnel. Officially this is considered a bug. Allegedly, the guards were mistaken for Moldovans. But in fact the story is quite dark. Because this happened against the backdrop of an intensifying conflict between Kostenko and the leadership of the PMR, which he did not value highly. It is possible that this was the first time they wanted to put an end to Kostenko.
But, nevertheless, fighting in the city still continued. In particular, about a hundred more people defended themselves in the city executive committee. There were still several pockets of resistance that remained, still unbroken. Cossacks and guards fought there, local residents from the “workers’ committee”, volunteers from Russia. Kostenko, having received reinforcements in Tiraspol, decided to recapture Bendery from the invaders. And having made a daring frontal attack across the bridge to Bendery on a battery of “rapiers” of 4 guns, he succeeded, since the Moldovans simply did not expect this. After this and after three artillery strikes by the 14th Army on Moldovan positions, the armed formations of the Moldovans fled in panic from Bendery.
Military tension began to subside, and the PMR leadership decided to use this to neutralize Kostenko, who had completely left their subordination. He had previously openly ignored Major General Stefan Kicak, who was something of a defense minister. Despite his position, he was a very gray mediocrity, and Kostenko, as a talented and enterprising military man, did not give him a penny for this. Lebed was also opposed to Kostenko - their relationship did not work out even during their joint service in Afghanistan. Kostenko was accused of looting and unjustified executions of prisoners. There were a lot of rumors surrounding his personality, and now it is difficult to say what he actually did and what he made up. One can only assume that he, as a very extraordinary and independent person, could really break the law in some situation. Although it is unclear which state's law.Even after the prosecutor of the republic B.A. Luchik issued an order for his arrest, local authorities They did not dare to arrest him themselves, but turned to A.I. for help. Swan. It’s always more convenient to handle the heat with someone else’s hands.
Several ambushes organized against him yielded nothing. Kostenko simply did not appear where he was expected. He had a good network of informants, and his intuition did not let him down. In the end, the PMR leadership came to an agreement with Lebed, and on July 16, the first battalion, located in the school building, was blocked. Lebed later boasted that he had disarmed this battalion without a fight. But main reason The peaceful resolution of this issue lies in the fact that against the backdrop of the war with the Moldovans, the Russians did not want to shoot at the Russians. A corridor was provided for Kostenko, along which he left with his entourage.A.I. Lebed called the operation to detain Yu.A. Kostenko is one of the most unsuccessful operations in its military career. It would seem that everything was planned and provided for down to the smallest detail. But one factor was not taken into account, the factor of betrayal by the leadership of Transnistria. Kostenko knew the time of the operation and left the battalion’s location several hours before it began. But the plan to arrest Yu.A. Kostenko was discussed by A.I. Lebed with I.N. Smirnov, G.S. Marakutsey and B.A. Ray.
Apparently, the interests of Yu.A. Kostenko and the interests of the leadership of Transnistria coincided in some ways. Kostenko knew too much about what and how the PMR leadership did to create an independent republic.
Some time later he was detained at the Ukrainian border. He was sitting in the building of the local police station when 818 special forces arrived there in armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. The special forces demanded that Kostenko be extradited, which was done. Subsequently, allegedly during an investigative experiment, he died. The official version is that they were ambushed, but for some reason only Kostenko was burned in the car. According to another version, he was killed by a security guard who was present during the investigative experiment. By tragic accident, he turned out to be a relative of the victim. Allegedly, in order not to bring him to justice, Kostenko’s corpse was burned in the car. In fact, it seems to me that everything is much simpler. Kostenko was killed as an unwanted witness, and then they came up with a version of his death.Many people needed him at that moment, and he knew a lot about the powers that be. And in general, how and under what circumstances did battalion commander Yu.A. die? Kostenko still remains a mystery. One thing can be said with certainty - his death was very beneficial to the leadership of the PMR. And also to someone upstairs in Moscow. As trivial as it may seem, he knew too much about the secret springs of that war, and who were its beneficiaries. That’s why he was killed; there is a lot of mystery in his death, the reason for which, I’m afraid, will never be announced to a wide audience.
But his death did not benefit the direct customers of his killers. They had a trivial quarrel over a decision about who was king of the hill in the local chicken coop.
Lebed’s first conflict with the leadership of the Transnistrian Republic arose at the end of 1992. According to A.I. himself. Lebed, its beginning is associated with the detention by soldiers of the 14th Army at the request of the PMR prosecutor of “battalion commander Nikolai Kostenko,” accused of many serious crimes, but associated with the top leadership of the republic. When Kostenko was detained in July 1992, paratroopers disarmed a battalion of the Transnistrian Guard. Kostenko himself was detained much later and, under circumstances that have not yet been clarified, was killed. The murder was attributed to soldiers of the 14th Army. Lebed did not agree with this formulation of the question.
Another reason for the conflict was the disagreement of the PMR leadership with the participation of military personnel of the 14th Army in maintaining public order and fighting crime in the region. The relationship between the chaos that was happening in the city and the way the leaders of the republic behaved in a difficult criminal situation was very clearly visible. In conditions of chaos it is always easier to do dark things.
The third reason for the conflict, perhaps the most important, was the reluctance of the PMR leadership to sign acts of acceptance of weapons from the 14th Army, which they captured before the Bendery massacre and which were not returned after the deployment of units of the 14th Army during active hostilities.
In December 1992, reports appeared in the press about a confidential agreement between A.I. Lebed and I.N. Smirnov on the transfer to Pridnestrovie of part of the weapons and military equipment of the 14th Army. September 27, 1992 A.I. Lebed denied these reports. In a speech on local television, he called them “nonsense and fabrications.”
According to him, by this time he and Smirnov were in an “extremely confrontational relationship,” although he admitted “that Smirnov actually wrote him pitiful notes, asking him to hand over 139 tanks, 650 trucks, and 124 mortars.” Lebed answered Smirnov: “I only have 121 tanks. Should I give away all the tanks and still have 18 left?
I quickly explained to him that it was mine. What’s mine is mine, yours is ours” (“NSN,” May 18, 1996).
From media publications, we know only five Russian military personnel who took part in the fighting in Transnistria. By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 18, 1993, senior lieutenant A.N. was posthumously awarded the Order “For Personal Courage”. Zimanov, Lieutenant F.F. Chernavsky, senior warrant officer N.N. Noreen, privates D.S. Paireli and S.A. Digoran. The decree was officially published in Krasnaya Zvezda.
Also, 9 officers of the 14th Army were awarded official Transnistrian awards. In addition to A.I. Lebed, who wore the Transnistrian insignia on the block immediately after the Order of the Red Banner, the PMR medal “Defender of Transnistria” was awarded to 7 artillerymen and the deputy chief of staff of the army. The ceremony took place in 1995 at the Ministry of Defense of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The awards were presented by the head of the military department, Lieutenant General S.G. Khazheev. Also, 27 servicemen of the 14th Army were posthumously awarded the medal “Defender of Transnistria”.
The Cross of the Black Sea Cossack Army “For the Defense of Transnistria” was awarded to Lieutenant General A.I. Swan.
This rare and highly valued military award was awarded to “all Cossacks - members of the Cossack Union who took part in hostilities against national extremist aggressors in the struggle for the independence and freedom of the people of Transnistria.” It was also awarded to “compatriots who are not members of the Cossack Union, but have high military merits and who made a significant contribution to the defense of Transnistria”, “as well as other citizens and stateless persons for personal courage and bravery shown in the battles for the independence and freedom of Transnistria” (http: // sammler.ru/index.php? showtopic=4583 ).
And finally, even now, exact number The number of Russian soldiers killed in the 14th Army during the Transnistrian conflict is unknown. Different sources give different figures, and the range is quite wide, from a minimum of 22 to 76 people. And as you know, he hasn’t been buried yet last participant military conflict continues until then this conflict, at least in the hearts of the people who participated in it. And the Transnistrian conflict has not yet been completely extinguished, thanks to the indecisiveness of the Russian side and the mutual intransigence of the two warring parties, it is smoldering, ready to flare up at any moment. And we must take this fact into account, and most importantly, be prepared for it.
Russian anti-aircraft gunners saved civilians from bombing.
Bridges are designed to connect people and strengthen economies, but during the conflict in Transnistria they became important military targets.Photo by Dmitry Borko (NG photo)
A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down in the sky over Transnistria on March 23, 2014. aircraft(UAV), which carried out video and photography. Local state security experts claim: “The launch of the UAV was carried out from the territory of Ukraine by a group of individuals allegedly related to the operational and technical units of the Security Service of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, or to supporters of the Legal Sector, with the aim of conducting reconnaissance operations on the territory of the PMR.”
There have been no such incidents in the skies of Transnistria for more than 20 years. Last time Air defense forces were used in this region in the summer of 1992. Then combat launches carried out crews of the 14th Guards Combined Arms Army of Russia. The targets are Moldovan MiG-29s, which the republic inherited after the collapse of the USSR. 31 aircraft were transferred to Moldova from Hungary in 1991, but after the republic declared independence, all 48 pilots of the regiment and most of the technical personnel left for Russia and other republics of the former USSR. Then the Moldovan military department began a campaign to recruit pilots of Moldovan nationality. By the spring of 1992, the Moldovan Air Force had four pilots who had experience flying the MiG-29.
Of greatest interest are two episodes of the war in the Transnistrian skies, which are not known to the general public, since the direct participants in these events did not advertise themselves so as not to be subject to criminal prosecution by the Moldovan authorities. The latter put the Transnistrian and Russian military on the wanted list as criminals.
.........
In his diary, the headquarters officer of the 14th Combined Arms Army, Colonel Viktor Chernobrivy, made the following entry that day:
“June 26 at 7:30 am.
WITH western direction at a distance of up to 35 kilometers from Bendery, the enemy placed a passive jammer to cover two MiG-29 aircraft.
At the moment the planes reached the target, an oil depot in Tiraspol, which was on command post Army Air Defense Colonel G. Dobryansky gave the order to destroy the target.
A few minutes after the launch of the missile defense system, the battery reported: “An explosion at an altitude of 3000, the target mark disappeared from the screen.”
The plane, which was damaged, fell on the territory of Moldova; the very fact of the loss of the plane was denied by official Chisinau.
Scouts from the special forces company of the 14th Army, who conducted a raid “on the other side,” brought back debris that was identified as a fragment of the MiG-29 antenna.
After this incident, there were no raids on the territory of Transnistria.
Only after the end of hostilities did the Moldovans officially admit the loss of one MiG-29, and there is every reason to believe that this fighter belongs to the air defense of the 14th Army.”
AFTER THE WAR
“On August 7 we returned to the park. The bottom line is two “scared” and one shot down MiG,” recalled Yuri K. “In total, since July 22, 1992, 29 launches of anti-aircraft guided missiles were carried out against air targets, 24 missiles were used up, due to various malfunctions of anti-aircraft guided missiles or transport- launch containers (TPK), 5 failures were recorded (the launch was carried out, but the rocket did not come out of the container. - Author). The warehouse contained 29 TPKs used during the combat work of the anti-aircraft missile regiment in the skies of Transnistria.
On July 12, our battery went to the area of the village of Kolbasna, Rybnitsa region, to cover an artillery ammunition depot, inherited by the 14th Army from the former Odessa Military District. The Marculesti airfield, where the MiGs were based, is located 120 kilometers in a straight line from Kolbasna, so the army command not unreasonably considered the possibility of attacking the warehouses. We stayed near Rybnitsa until the end of 1992. We completed the task. The Moldovan military did not dare to take revenge.”
SO DIFFERENT AWARDS
Anti-aircraft gunner officers of the 14th Army, participants in the Transnistrian war, were awarded Russian state awards. My interlocutor, Yuri K., was awarded the Order “For Personal Courage” in 1993. A 1984 graduate of the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School, Vitaly Russu, who bombed the bridge between Bendery and Parkani, also received his award. Decree awarding him the Order of Stefan cel Mare, the highest military award Republic of Moldova, was signed on March 6, 2012, on the 20th anniversary of the start of the fratricidal war. As they say, the same metal is used to cast both a medal for a righteous battle and an order for destroyed peaceful houses. However, history has already put everything in its place...
One can only guess who and how destroyed the Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle on March 23, 2014. In the meantime, the Transnistrian authorities are appealing to representatives of the guarantor countries in the negotiation process on the Moldovan-Transnistrian settlement with a request “not to take military-intelligence measures that lead to increased tension, including on the Transnistrian-Ukrainian section of the border.”
Author A.V. Kozlov.
The conflict between Transnistria and Moldova also began with a fierce struggle against the Russian language in the territory where the Russian-speaking population predominantly lives. On February 16, 1989, on behalf of the Union of Writers of Moldova, a bill “On the functioning of languages on the territory of the Moldavian SSR” was published. According to the project, parents were deprived of the right to choose the language of instruction for their children, and administrative and, in some cases, criminal liability was provided for the use of a language other than the state language in official communication. On March 30, 1989, the bill “On the State Language”, prepared by working group The Supreme Council of the MSSR, in which Moldavian was proclaimed the only state language.
This led to the emergence of a spontaneous social movement, who advocated the introduction of two state languages- Moldavian and Russian. On August 2, on the day of the celebration of the 49th anniversary of the formation of the MSSR, a group of nationalists from the informal association “Vatra” gathered in Bendery’s Oktyabrsky Park. They staged an unauthorized procession through the streets of the city - waving Romanian flags and calling for “getting rid of the Russian occupiers.” On August 10, it became known that at the upcoming 13th session of the Supreme Council of the MSSR, it would not even be the bill of March 30 that would be discussed, but an even stricter version of it, which provided for the conduct of office work exclusively in the Moldovan language. This led to the appearance of their own spontaneous “Maidans” in the cities of the republic - open-ended rallies were held against the artificial Romanianization of society. The population of Transnistria was especially active, where 87% speak Russian and traditionally pin their hopes for the future on Russia. The split in society and hatred between nationalists and the rest of the population grew like a snowball, but was restrained by the still existing Soviet government. When the USSR collapsed, this energy immediately splashed out.
On the evening of March 1, 1992, a provocation occurred - Moldovan riot police dressed in civilian clothes staged a fight. Upon receiving a call, a group of Transnistrian policemen went to the scene and were ambushed. As a result of the attack, the chief Igor Sipchenko died from his wounds, another guardsman was wounded. In response to the shooting of the police, on March 2, Transnistrian guardsmen and Cossacks surrounded the building of the Dubossary police department, disarmed the police, loaded them onto a bus and sent them to the city council building. During the arrest of the police, machine gun fire was opened from the roof of the police station. The shooter fled and was subsequently never found. The detained policemen were sent to the Tiraspol detention center and then exchanged for guardsmen detained by Moldova. On the same day, a special forces detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova entered into battle with a regiment of the 14th Army located near Cociere. Cossacks and guards arrived to help the regiment. The Moldavian detachment blocked the houses with the families of officers and soldiers of the 14th Army and began to threaten them, in fact taking them hostage. In order not to put the lives of their loved ones at risk, the army command decided not to resist and ordered the weapons to be given to the Moldovans. However, Cossacks and militias came to the aid of the army - the Moldovans retreated. Some captured opontsy subsequently joined the ranks of the Pridnestrovian guards.
This incident on March 2 caused the escalation of the conflict - Moldova began to prepare for a full-scale “pacification” military campaign. The concentration of Moldavian troops began around Dubossary and Grigoriopol. Since mid-March, artillery shelling of the left bank of the Dniester began. On April 1, Moldovan police, accompanied by two BTR-70 armored personnel carriers, entered Bendery and tried to disarm the Transnistrian guards. The guards resisted. A fight ensued. A bus carrying cotton mill workers came under crossfire, one of the women was killed, and several others civilians were injured. The nationalist rhetoric promoted by politicians has not left patriots aside either. neighboring countries, indirectly involved in the conflict. Volunteers and mercenaries from Romania fought on the Moldovan side, and volunteers from Russia, Ukraine and other post-Soviet republics fought on the Transnistrian side.
Then a group of fighters of the Popular Front of Moldova and the Chisinau police detachment special purpose(OPON) attacked a motorized rifle regiment of the Russian army located in the village of Kochieri near Dubossary. President of Transnistria Igor Smirnov declared a state of emergency. The peak of the confrontation in Dubossary occurred in the second half of May 1992. The Moldovans received 34 fighters, 8 helicopters, 54 armored personnel carriers, 54 ATGMs, 144 guns, 87 mortars, 27 grenade launchers, 50 machine guns from abandoned military warehouses. From May 17 to May 20, the reinforced group carried out more than ten unsuccessful attacks, and also subjected Dubossary to intense artillery and mortar fire.
60 people were killed in Transnistria, half of whom were civilians. On May 19, the military council of the 14th Army announced that 10 mines had fallen on the territory of the military camp and that if the shelling resumed, a retaliatory fire strike would be launched. On May 20, the Transnistrian militias received at their disposal Russian tanks T-64 and armored personnel carriers BTR-60PB. Chisinau accused Russia of violating neutrality. However, the military, explaining the situation, said this: a crowd of Pridnestrovians, mostly women, entered the military unit and forced the command to hand over the tanks. On May 21, the shooting stopped and the parties were able to carry away the corpses. Some of the bodies of the Transnistrian militias were deliberately mutilated. So, a corpse was discovered Grigory Batarchuk with his fingers and genitals cut off, his eyes gouged out and a metal comb driven into his head.
In the summer of 1992, the center of the confrontation moved from Dubossary to Bendery, located on the right bank of the Dniester, but populated mainly by ethnic Great Russians and Ukrainians. Of the regular troops, the 2nd Bendery battalion fought on the Transnistrian side, which was supported by Cossack units - a total of 1,200 people. The 1st, 3rd and 4th motorized infantry fought on the Moldovan side infantry battalions and the OPON brigade total number about 5 thousand people, as well as aviation. However, the Moldavian forces were soon driven out of the city. On June 22, two Moldovan MiG-29s bombed the Bendery bridge. They made several passes at the target and dropped a total of 14 bombs. However, to the surprise of eyewitnesses, not a single bomb hit the bridge. They "accidentally" entered Parcani, destroying several residential buildings and killing their inhabitants. On June 23, the planes tried to bomb the oil terminal at Nizhny Khutor, but again the pilots missed, and one of them was shot down by air defense systems.
The armed phase of the Transnistrian conflict lasted until August 1, 1992. Armored vehicles and artillery were involved in the battles on both sides. In particular, on the Moldovan side these were armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, BRDMs and MTLBs, as well as anti-aircraft guns, mortars of 82 mm and 120 mm caliber, anti-tank guns 100 mm caliber, about 4 units of 9K114 Sturm ATGM and one anti-hail MLRS "Alazan". From the Transnistrian side, several dozen units of armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, BRDMs and MTLBs were also involved. The number of Moldovan armored vehicles exceeded the number of Transnistrian ones, so the guards used in battle vehicles not intended for military operations. In particular, PTS with a reinforced front part of the hull, armored railway cars and locomotives, KamAZ and KrAZ trucks covered with armor sheets went into battle. For example, one BAT-M track-laying vehicle was turned into a real rocket launcher. The craftsmen tore off the block for launching rockets from the attack helicopter and installed it on the roof of the track-layer. Such a rattling cart moved along the railways, disguised with spruce branches. And when “Grandfather Kuzmich” (the shooter’s call sign) hiding there discovered enemy units, he unexpectedly revealed his “surprise” and launched a formidable attack.
The hostilities were stopped thanks to Russian intervention. Troops under the command of General Alexander Lebed intervened in the conflict to protect civilians and stop the bloodshed. Currently, security in the conflict zone is ensured by the Joint peacekeeping forces Russia, Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and military observers from Ukraine.
The starting point for the current conflict between Chisinau and Tiraspol was the development in early 1989 by the Supreme Council (SC) of the MSSR of the bills “On the State Language” and “On the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the MSSR”. It was not Moldovan based on the Cyrillic alphabet that was recognized as the only state language, but Romanian. Russian was assigned only the role of a language of interethnic communication. This decision, accompanied by a noisy campaign of Romanianization of socio-political and cultural life, sharply aggravated the national question and caused an increase in interethnic contradictions in the republic. It was perceived very painfully in the most industrially developed country compared to the rest of Moldova industrial region- Transnistria, the majority of the inhabitants of which, for historical reasons, were Russian-speaking. The Transnistrian deputies represented in the MSSR Supreme Council took the initiative to introduce two state languages, preserve the Cyrillic script and hold a mandatory referendum on the mentioned bills, but it was rejected by the nationalist-minded majority. As a result, on August 31, 1989, these two documents were adopted, and the date itself was proclaimed a national holiday - Language Day.
Transnistria regarded the actions of Chisinau as a legislative infringement of the equality of citizens of all nationalities living in the MSSR. Mass protests took place in cities across the region.
On such a wave, Pridnestrovian deputies in the Supreme Council of the MSSR were forced to initiate the study of the issue of autonomy of the region as part of a united Moldova, followed by a referendum. Although this issue was included in the agenda of the next session of the MSSR Supreme Council, its discussion was essentially blocked by the efforts of nationalists. At the same time, the Romanian tricolor was declared the state flag of the republic, and its name was changed to SSR Moldova (SSRM). Powerful psychological pressure and physical violence were applied to the Transnistrian group of deputies of the Supreme Council. Nevertheless, the Pridnestrovians continued to actively work in parliament and oppose the growth of nationalist manifestations until the adoption of a declaration of sovereignty by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 23, 1990, which marked the beginning of the process of the republic’s secession from the USSR.
The entire course of such events contributed to the maturation of the idea of creating an independent state in Transnistria. If on June 2, 1990, the first congress of deputies of all levels held in Transnistria spoke only for the autonomous status of the region, then exactly three months later at the second similar congress the creation of the Transnistrian SSR was already proclaimed.
At the same time, the process of autonomization was underway in another region of Moldova - Gagauzia, the population of which opposed the rising wave of Moldovan-Romanian nationalism and for the proclamation of cultural autonomy. In October 1990, elections to the local Supreme Council were announced in Gagauzia. Chisinau tried to prevent them from taking place by sending in police and volunteers from among the radical nationalists of the Popular Front. Bloodshed was avoided only thanks to the introduction of special forces of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs into the region at the request of the Gagauz leadership. Events in Gagauzia sharply aggravated the internal political situation and accelerated the process of disengagement of Transnistria from the rest of Moldova, which led to the first casualties among the civilian population. On November 2, 1990, near the city of Dubossary, during an operation by the Moldovan police, three Pridnestrovians were killed and sixteen were wounded. On August 27, 1991, the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova (RM) was adopted in Chisinau. In response to this, the Supreme Council of Transnistria soon proclaims the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and approves the decision to transfer all government bodies of the Left Bank to its subordination. On December 1, 1991, the region held presidential elections and a referendum on the independence of the PMR from the Republic of Moldova.
Chisinau, recognizing the actions of the Pridnestrovians as illegal and refusing political means resolution of the current situation, he took the path of forcefully solving problems with Tiraspol. It was then that, to instill terror among the residents of Transnistria, the special services of Moldova and Romania created detachments of militants from among the nationalists. One of the most active among them was the sabotage group “Buzhor”, led by the well-known Ilashku, who and his accomplices “distinguished themselves” for their particular cruelty.
The outbreak of clashes in March 1992 by the summer of that year gradually escalated into a large-scale armed conflict on the banks of the Dniester. The entire arsenal of the Moldovan army was used against Transnistria. In fact, it was a genuine aggression against the region, which led to the death of hundreds of people. The fighting took place in close proximity to military units of the former 14th Army, which was stationed in the Transnistrian region. Its military personnel were subjected to provocations by seizing hostages and weapons. Despite this and numerous appeals from civilians, the 14th Army remained neutral. When the conflict became threatening and its escalation reached its climax, the army command, at the request of Moldovan President M. Snegur, decided to intervene and separate the warring parties in order to put an end to the bloodshed.
As a result, on July 21, 1992, in Moscow, the presidents of Russia and Moldova, in the presence of the leader of Transnistria, signed an Agreement on the principles of the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.