| Revision as of 16:53, 5 May 2006 editHmains (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers1,214,056 edits refine cat← Previous edit | Revision as of 23:51, 5 May 2006 edit undoTSO1D (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users5,006 edits →Military conflict: sourc eNext edit → | ||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
| At the same time the Russian Army in Moldovan territory numbered about 14,000 professional soldiers. The Transnistrians had 9,000 militiamen trained and armed by officers of the 14th Army. In addition, there were 5,000-6,000 volunteers who came forward after an appeal was made on Russian television for fighters to go to Transnistria to support the cause. These volunteers came from all over the Russian Federation. A number of Don, Kuban, Orenburg, Sibir, and local Transnistrian Black Sea Cossacks joined in to fight alongside the separatists. Due to the irregular makeup of the forces, troop strength of Transnistria is in dispute but it is generally accepted that it was as large, if not larger, than the Moldovan forces, as shown by the fact that Transnistria was able to repel Moldova in the fighting. | At the same time the Russian Army in Moldovan territory numbered about 14,000 professional soldiers. The Transnistrians had 9,000 militiamen trained and armed by officers of the 14th Army. In addition, there were 5,000-6,000 volunteers who came forward after an appeal was made on Russian television for fighters to go to Transnistria to support the cause. These volunteers came from all over the Russian Federation. A number of Don, Kuban, Orenburg, Sibir, and local Transnistrian Black Sea Cossacks joined in to fight alongside the separatists. Due to the irregular makeup of the forces, troop strength of Transnistria is in dispute but it is generally accepted that it was as large, if not larger, than the Moldovan forces, as shown by the fact that Transnistria was able to repel Moldova in the fighting. | ||
| Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the ], ] and the Russian Federation in turn) stationed in Transnistria, had fought with and on behalf of the Transnistrian separatist forces. |
Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the ], ] and the Russian Federation in turn) stationed in Transnistria, had fought with and on behalf of the Transnistrian separatist forces. <ref> "Implicarea Armatei a 14 a" Intelmedia Analysis Center</ref> A significant portion of the personnel of the Russian 14th Army were local conscripts and officers. The separatists were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian troops chose not to oppose the separatists who had come to help themselves from the Army’s stores; on the contrary, in many cases they helped the separatists equip themselves by handing over weapons and by opening up the ammunition stores to them. | ||
| In December ] the Moldovan authorities arrested Lieutenant-General Yakovlev in ] territory, accusing him of helping the Transnistrian separatists to arm themselves by using the weapons stocks of the 14th Army. At that time, General Yakovlev has been both Commander of the 14th Army and "Head of the National Defence and Security Department" of Transnistrian entity. The authorities of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan authorities to obtain the release of General Yakovlev. | In December ] the Moldovan authorities arrested Lieutenant-General Yakovlev in ] territory, accusing him of helping the Transnistrian separatists to arm themselves by using the weapons stocks of the 14th Army. At that time, General Yakovlev has been both Commander of the 14th Army and "Head of the National Defence and Security Department" of Transnistrian entity. The authorities of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan authorities to obtain the release of General Yakovlev. | ||
Revision as of 23:51, 5 May 2006
|
| Politics of Moldova |
|---|
 |
|
|
| Constitution |
| Parliament |
| Judiciary |
| Executive |
| Administrative divisions |
| Elections |
Foreign relations
|
 Moldova portal
|
|
| Politics of Transnistria |
|---|
 |
| Constitution |
| Executive |
|
LegislatureSupreme Council
Speaker Alexander Korshunov Political parties |
Elections
|
Administrative divisions
|
Foreign relations
Diplomatic missions of / in Transnistria |
|} The War of Transnistria involved armed clashes on a limited scale that broke out between the Transnistrian separatists and the Moldovan police as early as November 1990 at Dubasari. Fighting intensified throughout 1992 until a ceasefire that same year which has held ever since.
Background
Most of the territory of the current Republic of Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union with the creation of the Moldavian SSR in 1940. The act, later denounced by present-day Moldova which declared it "null and void" in its Declaration of Independence in 1991, followed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Soviet Union and Hitler's Reich. Previous to the creation of the Moldavian SSR, Moldova to the west of the Dniester river was part of Romania whereas Transnistria to the east of the Dniester was part of the Soviet Union.
During the last years of the 1980's, the political landscape of the USSR was changing due to Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of perestroika, which allowed political liberalization at the regional level. In the Moldavian SSR, as in many other parts of the Soviet Union, exclusivist nationalism became the leading political force. In August and September 1989, the Moldavian Supreme Soviet enacted laws introducing the Latin alphabet for written Romanian (Moldavian) and making that language the country's first official language, in place of Russian. On 27 April 1990 the Supreme Soviet adopted a new tricolour flag (red, yellow and blue) with the Moldavian coat of arms and changed the national anthem to that of Romania.
Political conflict
Some national minorities opposed these changes. The language laws presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non-Romanian population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Romanian. The problem of official languages in the MSSR had become a Gordian knot, being exaggerated and, perhaps, intentionally politicized. Some described the language laws as "discriminatory" and criticized their rapid implementation. This displeasure with the new policies was manifested in a more visible way in Transnistria where, unlike the rest of the MSSR, ethnic Moldovans were outnumbered by a Slavic majority. Scenes of protests against the central government's moves towards nationalism were strongest here. The combination of a distinct history and a fear of Moldavian discrimination gave rise to separatist sentiments.
Although not yet independent, Transnistria's protests against the central government were increasingly accompanied by moves towards more autonomy and self government of local affairs. The first operation by the special forces of the Moldovan police were launched against separatists in Dubasari on 12 June 1990.
On 2 September 1990 the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was proclaimed; "Pridnestrovie" being the name for Transnistria in Russian.
On 27 August 1991 the Moldavian Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova. The declaration specifically referred to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as null and void and called for the political and legal consequences of the above be eliminated, declaring the merger of Transnistria and the previous Romanian west-bank Moldova to have been an act of occupation and absent of any real legal basis. Transnistria interpreted this as meaning that the 1940-merger of the two sides of the Dniester river was dissolved. Moldova, however, did not agree and almost immediately took steps to assert its sovereignty over the full territory of the now-former MSSR.
At that time the Republic of Moldova did not have its own army and the first attempts to create one took place a few months later. The newly independent Moldovan Parliament asked the Government of the USSR "to begin negotiations with the Moldovan Government in order to put an end to the illegal occupation of the Republic of Moldova and withdraw Soviet troops from Moldovan territory".
When on 29 August 1991 Transnistria's independence leader Igor Smirnov and 3 other deputies arrived in Kiev to meet Leonid Kravchuk, Smirnov and Andrei Cheban were arrested by secret service of Moldova. As a protest, the women's strike committee headed by Galina Andreeva blocked the Moscow-Chisinau railway line at a waypoint between Bendery and Tiraspol, until the arrested were freed.
Military conflict
In 1992 Moldova had troops under the Ministry of the Interior. In March 1992 they started recruiting troops for the Ministry of Defence. Moldovan troop strength has been estimated at 25-35,000 people, including reservists and volunteers. In addition to Soviet weaponry inherited upon independence, Moldova also obtained arms from Romania. It is disputed whether or not Romania also was a source of personnel.
At the same time the Russian Army in Moldovan territory numbered about 14,000 professional soldiers. The Transnistrians had 9,000 militiamen trained and armed by officers of the 14th Army. In addition, there were 5,000-6,000 volunteers who came forward after an appeal was made on Russian television for fighters to go to Transnistria to support the cause. These volunteers came from all over the Russian Federation. A number of Don, Kuban, Orenburg, Sibir, and local Transnistrian Black Sea Cossacks joined in to fight alongside the separatists. Due to the irregular makeup of the forces, troop strength of Transnistria is in dispute but it is generally accepted that it was as large, if not larger, than the Moldovan forces, as shown by the fact that Transnistria was able to repel Moldova in the fighting.
Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the USSR, CIS and the Russian Federation in turn) stationed in Transnistria, had fought with and on behalf of the Transnistrian separatist forces. A significant portion of the personnel of the Russian 14th Army were local conscripts and officers. The separatists were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian troops chose not to oppose the separatists who had come to help themselves from the Army’s stores; on the contrary, in many cases they helped the separatists equip themselves by handing over weapons and by opening up the ammunition stores to them.
In December 1991 the Moldovan authorities arrested Lieutenant-General Yakovlev in Ukrainian territory, accusing him of helping the Transnistrian separatists to arm themselves by using the weapons stocks of the 14th Army. At that time, General Yakovlev has been both Commander of the 14th Army and "Head of the National Defence and Security Department" of Transnistrian entity. The authorities of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan authorities to obtain the release of General Yakovlev.
On 5 April 1992, the Vice-President Rutskoy of the Russian Federation, in a speech delivered to 5,000 people in Tiraspol, encouraged the Transnistrian people to obtain their independence, under the protection of the Russian Operational Group (ROG) — the former 14th Army.
The full scale conflict erupted after the regular Moldovan forces entered the city of Tighina (Bendery) in an attempt to reestablish the authority of Moldova there. It has been reported that this action was a response to the stand-off at the police station in Tighina on 19 June 1992. On the afternoon of that day the Moldovan police in Tighina arrested the 14th Army's major Yermakov on a suspicion of a planned subversion. After his arrest the Transnistrian guards opened fire at the police station. Next morning the Moldovan forces moved into the city. Urban warfare ensued between the two sides in the densely populated city. In the course of combat actions in Bendery there were casualties among civilian population. Although there were no purposeful annihilation of noncombatants or acts of large-scale violence against civilians, there were, however, occasional incidents of indiscriminate fire, launched by both sides at residential quarters. The news of the havoc in Tighina reached Tiraspol, only 11 km away, as the Moldovan forces were approaching the crucial bridge over the Dniester. At this point, having the support of ROG's tanks, the Transnistrian Republican Guard and Cossack volunteers rushed to confront the Moldovan forces. In the course of the next days the city of Tighina (Bendery) was retaken by Transnistrian forces.
Although the Russian army officially took the position that it did not involve itself and that its actions were limited to actions aimed at stopping the fighting, the reality was different. Many officers sided with the Transnistrian forces and some even defected in order to help the Transnistrians openly. ROG Parcani sapper battalion, under the orders of General Butkevich, went over to the separatist side. It was this Parcani battalion which destroyed the bridges at Dubăsari, Gura Bâcului-Bâcioc and Coşniţa. Moldovan forces used aircraft in the village of Parcani (Parkani) and shelled the ROG station which meant engaging not just Transnistrian but also Russian forces.
Ceasefire and Joint Control Commission
A cease-fire agreement was signed on 21 July. This official document whose broad lines was established by the Russian side, was signed by the presidents of Russia (Boris Yeltsin) and Moldova (Mircea Snegur). The agreement provided for peacekeeping forces charged with ensuring observance of the ceasefire and security arrangements, composed of five Russian battalions, three Moldovan battalions and two Transnistrian battalions under the orders of a joint military command structure, the Joint Control Commission or JCC.
It it estimated that in total nearly one thousand people have been killed in the conflict, with the number of wounded approaching 3,000. Unlike many other post-Soviet conflicts, IDP's (internally displaced persons) did not reach large numbers in the war of Transnistria.
Days after the truce had been agreed upon, a military confrontation between a local self-defence unit and the Moldovan army, took place in Gîsca (Gyska), a village near Tighina/Bendery. At least three villagers were killed. During the combat, civil buildings were damaged or destroyed by artillery fire. Later reports of ceasefire violations have been brought under control with no known loss of human lives.
The Russian 14th Army's role in the area was crucial to the outcome of the war. The Moldovan army's position of inferiority prevented it from gaining control of Transnistria. Russia has since disbanded the 14th army and reduced troop strength in Transnistria to a corps of around 1,300 men who form part of the Joint Control Commission.
See also
External links
- 2004 census results in Moldova "Implicarea Armatei a 14 a" Intelmedia Analysis Center