Conflict in Transnistria. Full information

Do not be sad that you are doomed
After all, we are soldiers of the great war.
(A. Bredikhin).

Everyone dies the same
if the bullet hit the target.
Coincidentally, not symbolically
everyone is under attack...
(A. Dmitruk).

Foreword by Denis Diderot.
In this conflict, as in a mirror, what is happening today in the East of Little Russia is also reflected. The same thieving and meanness of the tops, who saddled power in time at that difficult time. And the selfless courage and selflessness of the common people, defending their Soviet identity and the right to life. And the right to speak and think as he wants. And just like now, and then the Kremlin elders - dreamers, used this civil conflict in their favor by 100%, leaving ordinary people with nothing.
The history of this conflict is still waiting for its patient researchers, unfortunately, most of the cases on the people who then made history are closed in special stores under the heading secret and will not be open to the general public soon. As well as the background of certain events and decisions, we most likely will not know soon. Until now, even the most complete number of victims on both sides of that conflict, both for civilians and for the military participants in that conflict, is not known. The figures vary widely, from 809 to 4500 thousand people, from different sources writing about that unfamiliar and unfamiliar, to the general reader, war.
But I, in my preface, a little, much LJ format does not allow, I want to talk about a few little-known facts of that little-known, general public, military conflict.
For example, at that time there was a lot of talk about the participation in the hostilities of the so-called "white tights" - biathletes from the Baltic states. So, as a rule, everything ends up with the fact that everyone has heard about them, but no one has ever seen them. But there is evidence of the former speaker of the State Duma, I.P. Rybkin, who even gave an interview to the New York newspaper V Novyi Sveta. The correspondent asks him: “You spoke about the 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, first of all, was engaged in snipers. More than thirty snipers he "withdrawn" before taking command of the army. Only then did the panic on the streets of Bendery end.”
Also, a special forces battalion of the Airborne Forces, 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 zone of responsibility of the 14th Army. After that, all criminal manifestations in the combat zone, and in the rear settlements, sharply declined. Literally in one day the order was restored. What has not happened so far, in the war zone in the Donbass. And this, no matter how it applies to General Lebed in his further actions and deeds, 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 stopped immediately, all robberies immediately stopped, all drunks with weapons were detained and isolated." Subsequently, many law enforcement officers of the PMR, who did not agree 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. Chernobrivy “Unconquered Transnistria. Lessons of the military conflict. By the way, the Tiraspol commandant's office at that time was headed by M.M. Bergman, who later became infamous. Support and support at the very top of Lebed was provided personally by the Chief of the General Staff V. Dubynin.
And by the way, the special forces battalion of the Airborne Forces was engaged not only in restoring order in the army's area of ​​​​responsibility. Every night, groups of special forces went to that - Moldovan side. Whose orders they carried out, in whose games they acted as dangerous pawns or queens, remained 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, which is strange, did not die by their own death. But one thing is known for sure, that 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. Also, our side was aware of the widespread support provided to the Moldovan side by Ukraine and Romania, in particular, the activity of the transport aviation of neighboring Romania. Its transport planes carried weapons and ammunition for the Moldovan army. Transnistrian armed groups tried to fight them. They were armed with a certain amount 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, who retired from the ranks of the Russian army. In particular, in early 1992, Lieutenant Ilya Kulik from the Igla MANPADS shot down a Romanian An-24 military transport aircraft. Also, the supreme leadership of Ukraine has emphatically distanced itself from the PMR. Along the border, in hastily dug caponiers, armored personnel carriers were stationed, pointing their trunks towards Tiraspol. The feeling, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses and participants in that war, was not pleasant when machine guns are looking at your back, ready to open fire at any moment. It strongly resembles 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-8s and one Mi-24 of a separate squadron of the National Guard of Ukraine were urgently deployed. These machines were based at the Vapnyarka airfield and at the Red Windows airfield. For three months, fourteen crews were engaged in the transfer of blocking groups and the transport of materiel. Ukrainian MiG-29 interceptors rose several times to push the Romanian transport workers out of their own airspace. Moreover, they forced them out so that they dropped supplies to their troops in Bendery and threw sabotage groups into the rear of the PMR troops.
Also, I am extremely interested in the bright and mysterious personality of the 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 this way and that way. Further, it is known that he commanded an airborne battalion in Afghanistan, was awarded two military orders. According to one data, dismissed from the ranks of the Soviet army for offenses incompatible with the high rank of an officer. In 1986, a criminal case was initiated on the fact of abuse of office (beating of subordinates) and illegal hunting. However, the case was dismissed by a call from Moscow. In 1988, a new criminal case - already in connection with the commission of a car accident while intoxicated. According to other sources, he was transferred to the reserve due to illness. The conclusion of the military medical commission of July 3, 1989 Diagnosis - the consequences of repeated closed brain injuries with astheno-neurological syndrome. He was recognized as fit for non-combatant military service in peacetime, and limitedly fit for the first degree in wartime. Of course, he was an extraordinary, strong-willed and strong personality. Back in October 1991, having only the seal and the building of a dilapidated school for deployment, he managed to gather and train four hundred people by June 1992. And under pressure under pressure from the public of the city of Bendery (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. A total of 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. Chernobrivs, say that Kostenko commanded the second battalion in Bendery. Where the truth is, God knows. Further, again there are continuous discrepancies and riddles, some sources write that Bendery defended 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 such a version that it was Kostenko's people who provoked the conflict on June 19. Since after appointing himself to the position, in fact, commandant Bender, he imagined himself indispensable and, having a “roof” in the face of the security service and in the leadership of Transnistria, he did everything he wanted on the territory of the city of Bender.
Here is what, for example, the chairman of the city executive committee V.V. Kogut: “I can’t say that the executive committee did not know about his crimes, they simply treated him opportunistically. I must admit that I also defended Kostenko at the Defense Committee, although later I told him to his face that over time the court would figure out what he had done and whose instructions he had carried out. When information about his affairs began to reach me, I informed those who were supposed to do this, but I soon became convinced that all my messages also got to Kostenko. One thing is undoubtedly the first to help the Pridnestrovian police came precisely the guardsmen of the battalion of the Pridnestrovian guards, Lieutenant Colonel Yu.A. Kostenko.

On April 29, the prosecutor of the republic hands over to President I.N. Smirnov information, which describes in detail on two and a half sheets of all the crimes committed by Kostenko, proven at that time, and asks to take measures to detain the battalion commander.
Kostenko was well aware that sooner or later he would have to answer for his crimes and the best way out of this situation would be an armed incident that would provoke an armed confrontation between the warring parties. For his arrest on the basis of the 2nd battalion of the RG, 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 RPG-26s and a pistol. There were also two boxes of grenades for the whole group, not counting the huge amount of 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. Toy war of banana republics). Nothing so reminiscent of today's elimination of Dremov, Mozgovoy and Bednov?
Also, another attempt was made to eliminate Kostenko.After heavy fighting in the city, in order to save 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 armored personnel carriers appeared in the PMR guards. But neither Kostenko nor his fighters at that time received anything from these weapons, just as they did not receive any reinforcements at all. When the battalion approached the bridge across the Dniester, they opened fire on it from the fortress, in which there were units of the 14th Army. They were also beaten from the opposite side of the road from the location of the khimbat. As a result of the fire, the battalion lost about a hundred personnel. This is officially considered a bug. Allegedly, the guards were mistaken for Moldovans. But the story is actually quite dark. Since this happened against the backdrop of an intensifying conflict between Kostenko and the leadership of the PMR, which he did not appreciate highly. It is possible that in this way for the first time they wanted to end Kostenko.
But, nevertheless, the fighting in the city still continued. In particular, about a hundred more people defended themselves in the city executive committee. There were still a few pockets of resistance that remained, still not broken. Cossacks, guardsmen, local residents from the "worker committee", volunteers from Russia fought there. Kostenko, having received reinforcements in Tiraspol, decided to recapture Bendery from the invaders. And having made a frontal daring attack across the bridge on Bendery on the “rapier” battery of 4 guns, he succeeded, since the Moldavians did not corny expect this. After that, and after the application of three artillery strikes by the 14th army on Moldovan positions, the armed formations of the Moldovans fled from Bendery in a panic.
The military tension began to subside, and the leadership of the PMR decided to use this in order to neutralize Kostenko, who had already completely left their subordination. He had openly ignored Major General Štefan Kitzak before, 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 put him in a penny for this. Lebed was also opposed to Kostenko - their relationship did not work out even at the time of joint service in Afghanistan. Kostenko was charged with looting and unjustified executions of prisoners. There were many rumors around his personality, and now it is difficult to say what he actually did and what was invented. 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 the law of which state.Even after the prosecutor of the republic B.A. Luchik issued a decree on his arrest, the local authorities did not dare to arrest him themselves, but turned to A.I. for help. Lebed. It is always more convenient to rake the heat with someone else's hands.
Several ambushes organized on him yielded nothing. Kostenko simply did not appear where he was expected. He had a good network of informants, and his intuition did not fail him. In the end, the leadership of the PMR 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 the main reason for the peaceful resolution of this issue lies in the fact that, against the background 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 one of the most unsuccessful operations in his military career. It would seem that everything was planned and foreseen to the smallest detail. But one factor was not taken into account, the factor of the betrayal of the leadership of Transnistria. Kostenko knew the time of the operation and left the location of the battalion a few hours before it began. But the plan to arrest Yu.A. Kostenko was discussed by A.I. Lebed with I.N. Smirnov, G.S. Passion fruit and B.A. Luchik.
Apparently, the interests of Yu.A. Kostenko and the interests of the leadership of Transnistria coincided in some way. Kostenko knew too much about what and how the leadership of the PMR did to create an independent republic.
After some time, he was detained at the Ukrainian border. He was sitting in the building of the local police department when 818 Special Forces arrived there in armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. The commandos 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 burned down in the car. According to another version, he was killed by a security guard who was present during the investigative experiment. He, by a tragic accident, 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 slammed as an unwanted witness, and then they came up with a version of his death.He was needed by many at that moment, and knew a lot about those in power. And in general, how and under what circumstances, battalion commander Yu.A. 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 it is not trite, he knew too much about the secret springs of that war, and who was its beneficiary. That is why he was killed, there is a lot of mystery in his death, the reason for which, I am afraid, will not be announced to a wide audience.
But his death did not benefit the direct customers of his killers either. They quarreled corny over the decision who is the 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. Lebed, its beginning is connected with the detention by the servicemen of the 14th army at the request of the prosecutor of the PMR 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, the battalion of the Transnistrian Guard was disarmed by paratroopers. Kostenko himself was detained much later and, under circumstances not yet clarified, was killed. The murder was attributed to servicemen of the 14th Army. Lebed did not agree with this formulation of the question.
Another reason for the conflict was the disagreement of the leadership of the PMR with the participation of the military personnel of the 14th army in the protection of public order and the fight against crime in the region. The relationship between the lawlessness that was going on in the city and how the leaders of the republic behaved in a complex criminal situation was already very clearly visible. In chaos it is always easier to do dark deeds.
The third reason for the conflict, perhaps the most important, was the reluctance of the PMR leadership to sign the acts of acceptance of weapons from the 14th Army, which they seized before the start of the Bendery massacre and which they did not return 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 of part of the weapons and military equipment of the 14th Army to Pridnestrovie. 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 was in “extremely confrontational relations” with Smirnov, although he admitted “that Smirnov did write pitying notes to him, where he asked him to transfer 139 tanks, 650 trucks, 124 mortars.” Lebed replied to Smirnov: “I have only 121 tanks. Am I supposed to give up all the tanks and have to stay 18 more?
I quickly explained to him that it was mine. Mine is mine, yours is ours” (“NSN”, May 18, 1996).
From publications in the media, we know only five Russian servicemen - participants in the hostilities in Transnistria. By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 18, 1993, Senior Lieutenant A.N. Zimanov, Lieutenant F.F. Chernavsky, senior warrant officer N.N. Norin, privates D.S. Paireli and S.A. Digoran. The decree was officially published in Krasnaya Zvezda.
Also, official Pridnestrovian awards were awarded to 9 officers of the 14th Army. In addition to A.I. Lebed, who wore Pridnestrovian insignia on the block immediately after the Order of the Red Banner, the PMR medal "Defender of Pridnestrovie" was awarded to 7 artillerymen and the deputy chief of staff of the army. The solemn 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, the medal "Defender of Transnistria" was posthumously awarded to 27 servicemen of the 14th Army.
Lieutenant General A.I. Swan.
This rare and highly valued military award was awarded to "all Cossacks - members of the Union of Cossacks, who took part in the 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 Union of Cossacks, but who have high military merit and who have made a significant contribution to the defense of Pridnestrovie”, “as well as other citizens and stateless persons for personal courage and courage shown in the battles for the independence and freedom of Pridnestrovie » (http: // sammler.ru/index.php? showtopic=4583).
And finally, even now, the exact number of Russian servicemen of the 14th Army who died during the Transnistrian conflict is unknown. Different sources give different numbers, and the spread is quite wide, from a minimum of 22 to 76 people. And as you know, until the last participant in the military conflict is buried, this conflict continues, 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 indecision of the Russian side and the mutual intransigence of the two opposing sides, it is smoldering, ready to flare up at any moment. And this fact must be taken into account, and most importantly, be prepared for this.

Russian anti-aircraft gunners saved civilians from bombardments.

Bridges are designed to connect people and strengthen the economy, but during the conflict in Transnistria they have become important military targets.Photo by Dmitry Borko (NG photo)
On March 23, 2014, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down in the sky over Transnistria, while taking video and photographing. Specialists of the local state security state: “The launch of the UAV was carried out from the territory of Ukraine by a group of persons 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”, in order to conduct intelligence operations on the territory of the PMR.”
There have been no similar incidents in the sky of Transnistria for more than 20 years. The last time air defense forces were used in this region was in the summer of 1992. Then combat launches were carried out by the crews of the 14th Guards Combined Arms Army of Russia. The targets are Moldovan MiG-29s, inherited by the republic after the collapse of the USSR. 31 aircraft were withdrawn to Moldova from Hungary in 1991, however, 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 military department of Moldova began a campaign to recruit pilots of Moldovan nationality. By the spring of 1992, there were four pilots in the Moldovan Air Force who had experience flying the MiG-29.
Of greatest interest are two episodes of the war in the Transnistrian sky, which are not known to the general public, since the direct participants in these events did not advertise themselves so as not to be subjected to criminal prosecution by the Moldovan authorities. The latter put the Pridnestrovian and Russian military on the wanted list as criminals.
.........
In his diary, an officer of the headquarters of the 14th Combined Arms Army, Colonel Viktor Chernobrivy, made the following entry that day:
“June 26 at 7:30 am.
From the western direction, at a distance of up to 35 kilometers from Bendery, the enemy placed passive interference to cover two MiG-29 aircraft.
At the moment the planes reached the target, the oil depot in Tiraspol, Colonel G. Dobryansky, who was at the command post of the army's air defense, gave the order to destroy the target.
A few minutes after the launch of the SAM, the battery reported: "Explosion at an altitude of 3000, the target mark has disappeared from the screen."
The plane, which received damage, fell on the territory of Moldova, the official Chisinau denied the fact of the loss of the plane.
Scouts from a special forces company of the 14th Army, who conducted a raid "on the other side", brought the wreckage, which 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, the Moldovans officially recognized the loss of one MiG-29, and there is every reason to believe that this fighter is on the account of the air defense of the 14th Army.
AFTER THE WAR
“On August 7 we returned to the park. The bottom line is two “frightened” and one downed 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 made, but the rocket did not leave the container. - Auth.). The warehouse stored 29 TPKs used in the course of the combat work of the anti-aircraft missile regiment in the sky of Transnistria.
On July 12, our battery went to the area of ​​the village of Kolbasna, Rybnitsa district, to cover the artillery ammunition depot, inherited by the 14th Army from the former Odessa Military District. The Marculesti airfield, where the MiGs were based, is located in a straight line 120 kilometers from Kolbasna, so the army command reasonably considered the possibility of attacking the warehouses. We were near Rybnitsa until the end of 1992. We have completed the task. The military of Moldova did not dare to take revenge.”
SO DIFFERENT AWARDS
Anti-aircraft gunners of the 14th Army, participants in the Transnistrian war, were awarded Russian state awards. In 1993, my interlocutor, Yuri K., was awarded the Order "For Personal Courage". A graduate of the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1984, Vitaly Russu, who bombed the bridge between Bendery and Parkany, also received his award. The decree on awarding him the Stefan cel Mare Order, the highest military award of the Republic of Moldova, was signed on March 6, 2012, on the 20th anniversary of the start of the fratricidal war. As they say, both a medal for a righteous battle and an order for destroyed peaceful houses are poured from one metal. However, history has already put everything in its place ...
Who and how on March 23, 2014 destroyed the Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle, one can only guess. In the meantime, the Pridnestrovian authorities are appealing to representatives of the guarantor countries in the negotiation process on the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement with a request "not to take military intelligence measures leading to increased tension, including on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian section of the border."
Author A.V. Kozlov.

The Transnistrian conflict became one of the conflicts on the territory of the collapsed USSR, which had both similarities with other local conflicts in the former republics of the Soviet Union, and its own characteristics. Socio-political, ethno-national, economic contradictions between Moldova and the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, which existed during the existence of the USSR, led to an armed confrontation after Moldova gained independence. Although the phase of hostilities was relatively short-lived (compared to other conflicts in the post-Soviet territory), it nevertheless resulted in numerous casualties on both sides from April to August 1992. A characteristic feature for the Transnistrian conflict, as well as for other conflicts on the territory of the former USSR, is its incompleteness. Despite the presence in the conflict zone of the joint peacekeeping forces of Moldova, the PMR and Russia, despite the holding of numerous negotiations on a settlement mediated by Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, tensions between the warring parties remain today. So far, no agreement has been reached on the status of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

The reasons for the conflict can be called the Romanianization policy pursued by Moldova in the field of public life, culture, and language. It is also necessary to recognize the presence of ethnic problems in the region, where both Moldovans and Russians and Ukrainians lived. The main reason for the conflict should be recognized as the collapse of the USSR, the inability of the new authorities of Moldova to solve the existing problems in the national question in a peaceful way.

With the coming to power of M. Gorbachev in the mid-80s of the last century, who announced the policy of perestroika and glasnost, the social activity of the country's population increased significantly. During this period, all the republics of the USSR were characterized by an increase in the influence of nationalist parties. The Moldavian SSR was no exception. In this republic, part of the intelligentsia and leadership supported the ideological focus on rapprochement, the unification of Moldova and Romania, these aspirations were explained by the cultural, historical and linguistic proximity of Moldovans and Romanians. In 1988-1989 in Moldova, a number of nationalist organizations appeared, speaking not only with anti-Soviet, but also with anti-Russian slogans. These organizations held a number of demonstrations, where, in addition to the demands for the translation of the Moldovan language into Latin according to the Romanian version, in addition to the demands for unification with Romania, chauvinist slogans were also heard: “Moldova is for Moldovans”, “Suitcase-station-Russia”, “Russians - for Dniester, Jews - to the Dniester. It is worth noting that for any nationalist movements that became active during the years of perestroika in the republics of the USSR, the cultivation of hatred towards the Russian population was combined with anti-Semitism and xenophobia. However, in the context of the growing economic and political crisis in the country, taking into account the increased social activity of citizens, these ideas and slogans for the most part fell on fertile ground. In 1988, the Popular Front of Moldova was created. Initially appeared as a democratic party in opposition to the ruling communist regime, advocating the sovereignty of the Moldavian SSR, this organization, with the growth of its supporters, began to take more radical positions. At the end of 1988, unionists who were part of the Popular Front openly began to call for unification with Romania, putting forward the slogan "One language - one people!"

On March 30, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR published a draft law that recognized Moldavian as the only state language. This caused a response wave of protests in Transnistria, the bill was recognized as discriminatory, there were demands for granting the status of the state language to Russian along with Moldovan, and dissatisfaction with the transition of the Moldovan language to the Latin alphabet was voiced. Nevertheless, on August 10, 1989, it became known that the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR at its regular session planned to discuss an even more radical version of the bill on the conduct of all office work in the republic in the Moldavian language. In response to this, the United Council of Labor Collectives (UCTC) created in Tiraspol held a preliminary strike demanding that the session of the Supreme Council be postponed, but the leadership of the Moldavian SSR did not react to these actions in any way and confirmed the decision to hold the session. This led to an increase in the number of enterprises not only in Transnistria, but also in Moldova, participating in the strike. 170 such enterprises began to strike on August 29, with about 400 labor collectives showing solidarity with them. The response to the strike was a rally held by the Popular Front of Moldova in Chisinau, called the "Great National Assembly", uniting in its ranks about half a million participants from the entire territory of the Moldavian SSR. There were demands for the exclusion of the Russian language from the public life of the republic. Two days later, the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR gave the Moldavian language the status of the only state language.

On January 29, 1990, in Tiraspol, under the patronage of the OSTK, a referendum was held on the expediency of establishing the Pridnestrovian Autonomous Socialist Republic. The vast majority of those surveyed were positive. After the election of new deputies to the Supreme Council of the MSSR, in which the representatives of Transnistria were in the minority, the latter left the parliamentary session after repeated threats, mental pressure and beatings. Supporters of the Popular Front carried out a number of attacks on Pridnestrovian parliamentarians, and also announced a rally near Bender with biased radical slogans. In Bendery, anticipating the provocative nature of such an action, self-defense units began to be created. On May 20, a meeting of the Popular Front took place in the Varnitsa region. It was devoted to discussing the law on the Moldovan language, the abolition of the Cyrillic alphabet and the introduction of new state symbols. Calls were made to break into Bendery as part of a special convoy and hoist the tricolor on the administration building. However, this action could not be carried out, the city authorities blocked the entrance to the settlement.

On June 23, the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR approved the conclusion of a special commission on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in which the creation of the MSSR was recognized as an illegal act, and Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were declared illegally occupied Romanian territories. The Popular Front, in turn, demanded that the Moldavian SSR be renamed the Romanian Republic of Moldova. In response to this, the Tiraspol city council stated that if the MSSR was created illegally, then the inclusion of the left bank of the Dniester into its structure is also illegal and the decision of the MSSR government has no significance for Pridnestrovie. Local authorities in Transnistria and Gagauzia held referendums on the status of the language, as a result of which Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian were recognized as official languages ​​in Transnistria, and Moldovan, Gagauz and Russian in Gagauzia. On August 19, 1990, the independence of Gagauzia was proclaimed. On September 2, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) was formed as part of the USSR, its Supreme Council and chairman, Igor Smirnov, were also elected. The creation of the PMR caused a negative reaction both from the leadership of the MSSR and from the government of the USSR. In accordance with the resolutions of the authorities in Chisinau and Moscow, the creation of independent republics in Gagauzia and Transnistria had no legal basis.

On October 25-30, 1990, Moldovan nationalist volunteers, led by the Prime Minister of Moldova M. Druk, held an action called the “March to Gagauzia”. The purpose of this action was to stop the tendencies towards the creation of an independent Gagauzia. Moldovan buses with volunteers (according to some sources, up to 50 thousand people) were sent to the region, accompanied by police. Mobilization began in Gagauzia, the villagers armed themselves and prepared to repulse the nationalists. In Transnistria, which supported Gagauzia, militia squads were created and sent to help the Gagauz. After negotiations, on the night of October 29-30, part of the Pridnestrovian combatants left the territory of Gagauzia, the same number of Moldovan volunteers returned to Moldova under the terms of the agreement. The entry of units of the Soviet Army into the conflict zone prevented bloodshed.

In connection with the growing confrontation between the central republican leadership and the local Transnistrian authorities, police units were sent from Moldova to control the situation. In response to this, self-defense units began to be created in Transnistria, which later led to the first clashes. On October 22, a rally was held in the city of Dubossary, protesting the presence of Moldovan law enforcement officers. As a result, police units were deployed in the surrounding villages, and order in the city began to be guarded by the created detachments of the people's squad. On November 2, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Moldova signed an order to unblock the bridge across the Dniester, create a checkpoint and take measures to establish control over Dubossary. Residents of the city blocked the bridge across the Dniester. In accordance with the given order, the Moldovan riot police launched an assault on the blocked bridge, using batons, tear gas, and later small arms. As a result of the OMON attack, three defenders of Dubossary were killed, sixteen were injured. However, the riot police retreated after some time, and all entrances to Dubossary were blocked by order of the OSTK. A response to the events in Dubossary was the creation of a temporary committee for emergency situations and self-defense squads in Bendery. On the evening of November 2, it became known that a motorcade with Moldovan nationalists and police was moving towards Bendery. On the Benedra radio, an appeal was transmitted to the entire male population of the city to replenish the detachments of the defenders of the city. Many responded. The motorcade of Chisinau approached the surrounding villages, but there was no collision, two days later the Moldavian detachments moved away from the city.

On March 17, 1991, the All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held. The Moldavian authorities in every possible way prevented the holding of a referendum on the territory of the republic, as a result of which only a small part of the inhabitants of the Moldavian SSR were able to take part in the vote. At the same time, in the PMR, the population took an active part in the referendum. In particular, in Bendery, 99% of those who voted were in favor of preserving the USSR. The holding of a referendum in Transnistria increased the dissatisfaction of the Chisinau authorities. On August 19-21, 1991, the putsch of the State Emergency Committee took place in Moscow, after the failure of which a rally was held in Chisinau demanding the secession of Moldova from the USSR. In turn, the OSTK in Tiraspol supported the State Emergency Committee. On August 23, the Communist Party of Moldova was dissolved, the day before, the Moldovan special forces in Tiraspol arrested some of the deputies of the Supreme Council of Transnistria. After Russia and then Ukraine declared their independence, Moldova followed suit on August 27. Two days later, Moldovan special services arrested in Kyiv the leaders of Transnistria and Gagauzia - I. Smirnov and S. Topal. On September 1, an action called "rail blockade" was held in Tiraspol and Bendery. The strikers demanded the release of the leaders of the PMR and Gagauzia. On September 2, the Congress of Deputies of Pridnestrovie approved the constitution, flag and coat of arms of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. At the same time, the creation of the Republican Guard and the reassignment of the internal affairs departments of Transnistria to the republican authorities began.

On September 25, detachments of the Moldovan police entered Dubossary. Weapons were used against civilians, up to 100 people were injured. However, under pressure from the public, and in connection with the creation of paramilitary self-defense units by the local leadership, the Special Purpose Police Detachment (OPON) was forced to leave Dubossary on October 1. Smirnov and other arrested Transnistrian deputies were also released. On November 5, by decision of the Supreme Council, the name of the TMSSR was changed to a new one - the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. On December 1, as a result of a referendum, 98% of those who voted voted for the independence of the PMR. On December 12, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR ratified the Belovezhskaya Accords, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The next day, the Moldovan police made a third attempt to penetrate Dubossary. This ended in a shootout between the OPON and the TMR republican guard units, which resulted in casualties on both sides. In Bender, local authorities have declared a state of emergency. Two buses with Moldovan police were sent to this city. Detachments of Cossacks and volunteers from Russia began to arrive in Transnistria. On December 18, Russia recognized the independence of Moldova; on December 21, Ukraine followed its example. During the winter of 1991-1992, relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol continued to deteriorate.

On the night of March 2-3, 1992, a car with Pridnestrovian policemen was shot from an ambush in Dubossary, the head of the Dubossary police, I. Slichenko, died. It is not known for certain who shot the police car, both sides of the conflict blamed each other for what they had done. However, in response to this action, detachments of the Pridnestrovian guards blocked the building of the Dubossary police, disarming and capturing the policemen. Later they were exchanged for captured guardsmen. On the same day, a special detachment of the Moldavian Ministry of Internal Affairs entered into battle with the regiment of the 14th Army, located in Cocieri. Cossacks and Pridnestrovian guards arrived to help the military. The police blocked the houses with the families of the 14th army. The Transnistrian side claimed that the Moldovan forces had taken military families hostage. However, the officers, Cossacks and guards entered into battle with the police, after which the employees of the Moldavian Ministry of Internal Affairs were forced out of residential areas. After that, the concentration of Moldovan troops around Dubossary began. In mid-March, Moldovan artillery began shelling the left bank of the Dnieper. On March 28, the President of Moldova declared a state of emergency throughout the entire Moldovan Republic, demanding the disarmament of all armed groups in the PMR and Gagauzia. A curfew was introduced in Transnistria. On April 1, a detachment of the Moldovan police, supported by two armored personnel carriers, entered Bendery in order to disarm the Pridnestrovian guards. A battle ensued, resulting in the death of civilians. At the same time, fighting broke out in the south and north of Transnistria, resulting in casualties on both sides of the conflict. The PMR leadership gave the order to destroy the bridges across the Dniester. Bridges that were not destroyed were blocked by the forces of the Transnistrian guard, Cossacks and volunteers. Until May, there were active hostilities, which began to decline with the beginning of the month. Transnistrian forces received weapons from the 14th Army, including armored vehicles. On May 25, M. Snegur said that at the moment Moldova is at war with Russia. Fighting with the use of tanks and artillery by both sides continued until June 18, when the Moldovan parliament adopted a resolution on the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the creation of a mixed commission. However, the next day a battle broke out in Bendery. Moldovan troops were brought into the city in support of the police. They were resisted by units of the Transnistrian guard in various parts of the city. On June 20, Moldovan troops reached the bridge across the Dniester (Bendery is on the right bank of the river) and cut off the city from the PMR. However, in the city itself, the resistance of the guards continued. The Moldovan military stormed the Bendery fortress, where the missile and chemical units of the 14th Army were located. The stormers failed, and some units of the 14th Army went over to the side of the PMR. In the evening of the same day, the Pridnestrovian Guard, supported by the tanks of the 14th Army, attacked the Moldovan military, breaking through to the bridge, destroying the Moldovan battery and releasing the city. As a result of street fighting, by the end of June, the Moldovan units were driven out of Bender to the city outskirts. On June 22, the Moldovan side used aircraft in battles. Two Moldovan MiG-29s bombed the bridge across the Dniester, as a result of which the bridge was not damaged, but the bombs hit the private sector and killed civilians. The next day, during a repeated attempt to bombard the Bendery region by Russian air defense forces, one of the planes was shot down.

Military operations in Transnistria did not arouse enthusiasm among the population of Moldova, despite the increased media propaganda. The army and the police fought reluctantly. At the same time, the guardsmen of Transnistria received assistance in the form of weapons and volunteers from the 14th Army, a fairly large number of volunteers from Russia and Ukraine arrived in the region, who played a significant role in repelling the Moldovan offensive. In Chisinau and in general in Moldova, protests began against the leadership, which dragged the republic into an unnecessary war, since there were no social prerequisites for conducting hostilities between Moldova and Transnistria. A large number of recruits and reservists of the Moldavian army deviated from the draft. In addition, Russia was forced to abandon its position of neutrality; on July 7, plenipotentiaries of the President of Russia arrived in the region. In Chisinau, under public pressure, the minister of defense and the head of government were dismissed. Through the mediation of representatives of the President of Russia, it was possible to reach an agreement on a ceasefire. On July 21, in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin and Mircea Snegur, in the presence of Igor Smirnov, signed an agreement on the principles for resolving the armed conflict in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. Military operations were frozen, Russian peacekeepers were brought to the line of confrontation. Later, the Joint Control Commission and the Joint Peacekeeping Forces were created. Russian, Moldovan and Pridnestrovian peacekeeping contingents were deployed in the PMR. In 1993, the OSCE joined the peace process, two years later Ukraine. To date, the territory of Transnistria is controlled by the authorities of the PMR. However, part of the territory claimed to belong to the Transnistrian Republic is controlled by Moldova.

As a result of the conflict, by mid-July 1992, the number of casualties on both sides amounted to 1,000 people killed and about 4,500 wounded. Some experts believe that the real losses are higher.

The armed conflict in Transnistria was able to be transferred to a peaceful course only as a result of the introduction of Russian troops into the region and the participation of Russia as the initiator of a political settlement and a ceasefire. However, today the conflict still remains unresolved, as neither side agrees to make concessions. Currently, Moldova and the Transnistrian region are experiencing a serious socio-economic crisis, from which they do not have the opportunity to get out on their own. Chisinau sees a way out of the current situation in the formation of integration processes with European and Euro-Atlantic structures, primarily with the European Union. In a certain way, such a solution would be optimal for the Transnistrian region as well. However, integration into European economic structures and the inflow of capital into the economy of Moldova and Transnistria are strongly impeded by the unresolved conflict that exists to this day. Thus, the Transnistrian conflict is the most important brake on the development of the PMR, the Republic of Moldova and the CIS countries as well.

Ivanovsky Sergey

Washington came with the 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 has not so many options. Sanctions are beautiful, catchy and pretentious for journalistic press conferences, but practice has shown that they are Russia, what an elephant pellet.

No, of course there is a certain effect of the sanctions. For it cannot be said that they do not affect us at all. Certainly there are difficulties. However, instead of an inglorious death under their yoke, the Russian leadership continues to hold a very interesting master class in the "Russian style", which is effective mix from aiki-do, subtle trolling, asymmetric geometry with a crowbar, thick indifference and a fair amount of Faberge-like admixture (including with the help of ichtamnets, calibers and VKS visits). As a result, Europe is sad, America is hysterical, and the width of the Russian smile is only increasing. It's disgusting to watch from Washington.

And most importantly, all the measures taken earlier could not force Putin come to war. At least on some of the imposed ones. There were many options to choose from, although Ukrainian was certainly considered the main one. But instead of war, Moscow gracefully took Crimea and locked Ukraine in an iron cage "Minsk process". Although everyone today complains about the inoperability of the “Minsk agreements”, however, after their conclusion, not a single battalion tactical group, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine still have more than a dozen of them, did not move even half a truck beyond the demarcation line. And that is all. No exit for Russian tank wedges to Kyiv. No massive landing of "blue berets" in Galicia. No landing of Russian "black berets" on the Odessa beaches. Simply outrageous!

But the Russians brazenly, as if to their home, pinned to Syria, where the Americans did not invite them, and literally in three months they had all the raspberries there. Yes, it’s so famous that two of the three sponsors of the local barmaley who buzzed there - Turkey and Qatar - today these barmaley themselves are handing over for distribution literally in commercial quantities. Things got to the point that the already almost fused American plan to create a "Middle East NATO" with a bang and a roar was covered with a copper basin.

So the chess position literally demanded an attempt at some kind of blow from a new direction. But their choice remained extremely narrow. Either destabilize Central Asia, or ... reopen the last remaining unresolved "old post-Soviet conflict" in Transnistria. The first required a lot of time to prepare, and the United States today already has an acute shortage of this resource. Putin can afford not to give a response to the diplomatic lawlessness of the State Department for half a year, but Trump is no longer threatening to prepare a quality Maidan in Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan or Tajikistan for a couple of years. And after Ukraine, it’s not a fact that the recipe will work at all. Unlike Yanukovych, local presidents are not distinguished by excessive softness of heart and indecision. They will roll children into the asphalt faster than they can say the word hamburger in the American capital.

So, by the method of simple elimination, the only possible point of an American strike was localized under the given conditions. Transnistria.

One and a half thousand Russian military in Transnistria are not "peacekeepers", but a grouping to maintain instability around Ukraine, said the commander of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges. Against the background of the announcement of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata in Moldova, this sounds like a threat. Chisinau openly breaks 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, in the Western view, looks very attractive. A typical region with negative connectivity. This means that it is necessary to protect it, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible. In this case the situation for us is complicated geopolitically. Transnistria does not have its own access to the sea and is completely surrounded by Ukrainian and Moldovan territories. That is, in fact, is in complete isolation. Just the perfect target to attack.

Russia cannot leave him to the mercy of fate for a number of important reasons. From trite image to directly geopolitical. Including - internal. Support for the actions of the Russian authorities is growing with the accumulation of obvious successes of the strategic line they are implementing. But, as always happens, a major public defeat is capable of overthrowing a nation either into total despondency, or into no less unbridled hysteria. Both options are bad. The first significantly reduces the ability of society to resist the pressure of the enemy and continue the struggle, considering their cause to be right. The second ... is even worse, as 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 "yes, how much you can endure their impudence!"... And the Russian war against any of the former fraternal Soviet peoples this is precisely what the United States has been pushing Russia towards since the events of August 2008.

In general, the United States tried to play with trump cards, but the question arises - how much should we be afraid of this statement of theirs?

On the verge of a "hot phase": Pridnestrovie "under the escalation dome" of NATO. Attempts at dialogue have been exhausted!

Based on the events of recent days, one can draw a very disappointing conclusion that the worst-case scenario for the development of events around the temporarily smoldering Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict has been launched, and that in the foreseeable future we may face a fairly large-scale multilateral military clash both in the vicinity of the Dniester estuary, as well as on the territory the entire southwestern part of the "square", including Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson regions. The escalation can occur either in conjunction with the escalation in the Donbass theater of operations, where the DPR army has already begun a slow and steady pushing back of Ukrainian militants from the outskirts of Donetsk and Mariupol, or regardless of the tactical situation in Novorossia. In both the first and second cases, the command "face" will sound from Washington or Brussels at a moment strictly verified by Western specialists, interpreted as another and irrefutable "casus belli". This is what the West has been actively doing over the past century.

The choice of Moldova as one of the main geostrategic "poles" of opposition to Russian influence in Eastern Europe is determined by a combination of advantageous geographical position state (next to a more powerful, in terms of combat potential, anti-Russian puppet state - Ukraine) with an extremely successful form of government - a parliamentary republic. These factors create a unique fertile ground for the West to accelerate the implementation of the plan to remove all post-Soviet states "on the path of unrest and war" in relations with the Russian Federation, which ultimately should lead to the involvement of the Armed Forces of our state 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 way to abstract from these conflicts, because in this case the situation will only worsen. First, we will expect a complete loss of friendly and allied territories with a pro-Russian electorate completely disappointed and partially exterminated by enemy regimes. Secondly, selected units of the United NATO military, which already today receive the best models of armored vehicles for assault and offensive operations. A striking example of the preparatory work of the North Atlantic Alliance for large-scale hostilities in the European theater is the hasty upgrade of the M1A2 "Abrams" main battle tanks at the 7th US military training ground in the German Grafenvoer to the highly protected version of the TUSK ("Tank Urban Survival Kit"), designed for successful operation in areas of theater of operations saturated with enemy anti-tank weapons.

Let's go back to the situation Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. As mentioned above, the parliamentary form of government in Moldova almost completely limits the possibilities 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 getting stronger, and Dodon has something to oppose to the Parliament and Cabinet 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 on cooperation between Moldova and the EAEU signed by Dodon has absolutely no legal force. Moreover, beyond the competence of President Dodon are such procedures as: the appointment or removal from office 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 the parliament, etc. In other words, against the backdrop of a legislatively backed up nationalist pro-European majority (having decisive legal force) in the Moldovan parliament, the president is perceived as an ordinary “oppositional upstart”. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening today.

Take, for example, the recent high-profile incident with the ban on the use of Romanian and Hungarian airspaces, as well as the Chisinau airport for the transit of an airliner to Moldova with a high-ranking delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, curator of the military-industrial complex and special representative of the President of Russia for Transnistria Dmitry Rogozin. The crew of the board, on which there was also 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, spending the last remaining fuel. The fact is that Dmitry Rogozin is on the so-called “sanction 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 to angrily scold the Moldovan government, calling its actions "a cheap show and a geopolitical game in order to curry favor with the US and NATO." But if everything were so simple and harmless... In reality, Moscow was shown who is the boss in the house, and this inadequate action can also 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 a real reality.

It is quite obvious that the official Chisinau does not for a second imagine peaceful coexistence with Tiraspol and almost openly announces the future scenario of force for the 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 (PRRM OGRF). At the moment, the Moldovan "top" 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 the delivery of additional weapons by military transport aircraft. Not only that, the only armament of the PMR army and our peacekeeping contingent are only artillery arsenals in the settlement. Kolbasna, for rotation it is now necessary to use civil aviation aircraft flying to Chisinau airport, which becomes less and less safe, since the Moldovan border police more meticulously “breaks through” the documentation of passengers arriving from the Russian Federation and often calculates and deports our peacekeepers back to Russia. The most memorable incident occurred on May 21, 2015, when, after checking documents, reserve sergeant Yevgeny Shashin was deported from Moldova, heading to Tiraspol to serve in the 13962nd military unit as a MSO shooter.

As we can see, at the moment our OGRF is extremely difficult situation, which is akin to a tactical "boiler". 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 the escalation of the conflict. The fact is that the maximum depths of the rear zones of the PMR reach about 20-30 km, and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthree 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 cannon and rocket artillery of the Armed Forces of Moldova and Ukraine. Dozens of MLRS 9K51 "Grad" and 9K57 "Uragan" combat vehicles, D-30, "Msta-B" and "Acacia" howitzers, which took the unrecognized republic in a tight ring from the territory of Moldova and Ukraine, can be used against the PMR Armed Forces and Russian peacekeepers. In the areas of the above tactical "isthmuses", numerically superior to the Moldovan military formations, with the support of Romanian and Ukrainian nationalists with NATO instructors, they will be able to divide the territory of the PMR into 4 sections, which will take no more than two weeks to clean up using Moldovan-Ukrainian military resources, and only 4 - 5 days - with Romanian military support, in which there is no doubt.

At the disposal of the Armed Forces of Moldova are also 152-mm long-range guns 2A36 "Hyacinth-B", capable of firing at a distance of 33.5 km in the case of the use of active rockets OF-59

Tiraspol will be able to “snap back” quite well", because the PMR army has at its disposal about a hundred "Gradov", 30 100-mm 2A29 Rapira anti-tank guns and 85-mm D-44 divisional guns, as well as a large number of anti-tank missile systems and RPGs; the TMR will not be able to do anything more significant due to the lack of proper weapons and the necessary number of them, as well as the small number of personnel of military units; in comparison with the People's Militia Corps of the LDNR, the PMR army looks very, very faded. Do not forget that many Western European PMCs who have excellent experience in performing lightning-fast tactical military operations, which will require prompt and decisive action from Moscow to protect our military contingent and a friendly republic.

An important point is that significant support to Moldova in the preparation of a forceful scenario for the "reintegration" of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic "Independent" renders already today. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, this is the transfer of artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 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, the first Moldovan-Ukrainian contingent is planned to be deployed at the Kuchurgany-Pervomaisk checkpoint as early as 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 divisions and several more Buk-M1 divisions. Together with the modernized Romanian Hawk PIP-3R air defense systems deployed near the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the Ukrainian systems completely block all air approach lines to the PMR from neutral airspace over the Black Sea. Very soon it will be possible to add to them more and 8 Patriot PAC-3 air defense systems purchased by Bucharest”, which will lead to the loss of the only and simple way to transfer units of the Russian Airborne Forces to the banks of the Dniester, as well as the delivery of modern anti-tank systems and counter-battery artillery reconnaissance radars to create a highly effective defensive line of the PMR, capable of quickly suppressing the firing positions of Ukrainian and Moldovan artillery.

More objectively, all modern weapons to protect the PMR had to be delivered to the region long before the creation of a strong air defense line over the Odessa region, but the time was wasted, and now Russia will have to resort to radical measures to maintain the status of an influential superpower. To "clear" the ground and air corridors to Tiraspol, a complex offensive operation will be required in the southern sector of the Odessa region. The key role here will belong to shock component of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy(diesel-electric submarines of the "Halibut" and "Varshavyanka" classes and frigates of project 11356), which will inflict dagger strikes on Ukrainian and Moldovan military units south of Chernomorsk with strategic cruise missiles 3M14T "Caliber-PL" (it is in this direction that a powerful defensive an outpost represented by the Moldovan-Romanian-Ukrainian contingent for the blockade of the PMR).

Considering the presence of Ukrainian “Trekhsotok” covering the airspace over the Dniester estuary, it may be necessary to conduct an anti-radar operation. For these purposes, super-maneuverable multi-role fighters will be involved. Su-30SM 38th Fighter Aviation Regiment, deployed at the Crimean airbase Belbek. They have in their arsenal such high-class air attack weapons as 4-moss anti-radar missiles. Kh-58U with a range of up to 250 km at high-altitude launch, a family of multi-purpose tactical missiles X-38 and precision tactical missiles Kh-59MK2, equipped with a "smart" correlation-optical homing head. After inflicting massive anti-radar strikes on 30N6 illumination radars of Ukrainian 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 Armed Forces of Ukraine by forces assault aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The situation around the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict will become more complicated by leaps and bounds, in direct proportion to the worsening situation in Donbas. 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 “top”. The most correct tactic in Transnistria was outlined by Mikhail Remizov, president of the National Strategy Institute. His idea is to put forward a tough 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. In the event of its non-fulfillment, Russia will receive the full right to a forceful asymmetric response. No other approach to resolving this situation is foreseen today ( there are options see the first article approx. RuAN

The Transnistrian conflict is a confrontation that began between Moldova and Transnistria, which is an unrecognized state entity on its territory. Under the control of this independent republic is the entire left bank of the Dniester, where ethnic Russians and Ukrainians live.

The Transnistrian conflict arose back in 1989, and already in 1992 a military confrontation began, which, of course, led to numerous casualties on both sides.

Let's go back to 1988. In Moldova, calls are increasingly heard to unite with Romania. At the next session of the Moldavian Supreme Council, a law was adopted, according to which the Latin script was supposed to function in the republic, infringing on the rights of all residents of non-Moldovan nationality.

Chisinau's policy caused protests mainly in two regions: in the south of Moldova, where the Gagauz live, and in Transnistria. It is here that at many enterprises Soviets begin to be formed and then their united congress is also convened.

It was on it that in 1990 the issue of creating an independent state, called the Republic of Transnistria, was decided.

This decision was justified by the fact that in 1940, when the territory of present-day Transnistria was created, an autonomous republic already existed, which was part of Ukraine.

However, official Chisinau canceled the decision of the congress.

In fact, the Transnistrian conflict began in the autumn of 1990, when the Moldovan OMON tried to liquidate all self-government bodies in

The war in Transnistria moved into its most active phase in March-July 1992, when the conflicting parties proceeded to the most real hostilities. A full-scale war began in the Bendery and Dubossary regions, in which tanks and artillery took part. It was after this that the confrontation was called a conflict.

Now this strip of land on the left bank of the Dniester, where it was so hot in 1992, is the unrecognized Transnistrian Republic.

And only Russian intervention could stop further bloodshed. The Fourteenth Russian Army, commanded by the legendary, took a position of "armed neutrality", which put an end to the process of further escalation.

Like any military action, the Transnistrian conflict also caused deaths: in 1992, about three hundred military personnel and almost six hundred civilians were killed.

The Transnistrian issue is especially relevant for the Russian side, because the people of this unrecognized entity have clearly decided in the direction of a close alliance with it, as they spoke at the plebiscites. At the same time, the republic has an unambiguously positive attitude towards the preservation and even strengthening of the Russian military presence on its territory.

Among the reasons that gave rise to the Transnistrian conflict are historical, economic, ideological, and ethno-political, while the positions of any of the warring parties cannot be unambiguously assessed.

Today there are peacekeepers from Moldova and Russia, as well as Ukrainian military observers. However, even after repeated negotiations, during which the OSCE, as well as Russia and Ukraine, were present as mediators, it was not possible to reach a final agreement on the status of the unrecognized Transnistria.

Relations between the opposing sides remain tense to this day, and even passing into the stage of an unarmed, peaceful settlement, this conflict, along with the Karabakh conflict, is one of the most difficult in the territory.

A little from myself as a participant in those events ...

We lived in a private house in Dubossary (village Dzerzhinskoye, if anyone knows), 1 km from the bridge itself, from which it all began. There is a non-digital photo somewhere, where I am right at this very bridge on the barricade (attached a photo).

Military unit. The war went on for three years, they survived two winters in their own basement. They ran from snipers, once they hit an anti-personnel "frog" mine - they saved a huge stone right next to it. For two hours I stood on a mine until a small comrade ran for help and brought the elders. I was simply grabbed by the arms and thrown over the stone. While the mine worked, bounced - we were all behind the stone. From that, my hearing deteriorated greatly and the medical board rejected it when I entered the aviation (I entered only the naval in St. Petersburg). There were many things. Imagine - 3 years!

From the perspectives of the military of this region. In Transnistria, one of the most powerful armies at the time of the collapse of the Union. Now the active army of Transnistria is fully armed and, most importantly, has real combat experience! And it's not just words. On the territory of Transnistria there were and are huge weapons depots! In addition, 80% of the industry of the former Moldova is located on the territory of Transnistria. And these are not only wineries, but also the only metallurgical plant, and several machine-building plants in Tiraspol, etc. etc.

Economically. Now it is tighter there because of the economic blockade by Ukraine. I'm sure it's temporary. Either the borders of New Russia will expand over time to the Dniester, as it was in its time, or the Khokhlofashists will be removed from Kyiv. Sure. But even so (and the official authorities of Moldova themselves admit this), the standard of living there is higher than that of the inhabitants of Moldova. But not sugar, yes. Compared, of course, with the inhabitants of Russia.

At the end of the active part of the war in 1995, he entered the military school in St. Petersburg. Now I live since then in St. Petersburg, Pushkin. But I don’t lose touch with my first Motherland, I periodically go there to visit my native lands, friends, relatives.

I must confirm that the war was between relatives, former colleagues, people of the same once region. But everything was inflated just by the new nationalist government of Moldova, which then, having lost the war, left again. And then, I know it, again everything was normal for several years between the peoples of the newly formed Transnistria and Moldova. But, apparently, the same problems are brewing there again as in 1992. And again the people are against it.

Oh, I could tell a lot about that time, oh, how much.

I really hope for peace in those parts ...