Transnistria, a tiny republic, has been shaken by explosions as tensions rise between Ukraine and Russia.
Authorities said that Transnistria was rocked by explosions early Tuesday, which destroyed two strong radio antennae and other infrastructure. Although no one claimed responsibility for the assaults, Ukraine almost exclusively blamed Russia. Latvia’s Foreign Minister said that he was “very concerned” by the explosions, comparing them to what occurred in the Donbas area before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Russia of attempting to entangle Transnistria in Russia’s full-fledged war against Ukraine. The 200-kilometer-long swath of territory between Moldova and Ukraine, home to around 470,000 people — 30% of whom are ethnic Russian — ostensibly seceded from Moldova in 1990. In 2015, they celebrated 25 years of self-declared independence with heavy Soviet-era rhetoric.
