On March 1, 2023, military gatherings of reservists began in Transnistria to conduct exercises that will last three months and were planned even before a series of explosions on the territory of the Republic of Transnistria that occurred in April 2022. They differ from training month-long military emergency, which was held in August 2014. All participating citizens were promised a monthly cash payment of 2.8 thousand Transdniestrian rubles (1 Transdniestrian ruble – approximately 5 Russian rubles).
It should be noted that recently the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation informed the public about a planned provocation by Kiev against Pridnestrovie, in which units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalist formations are expected to participate. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that his country would not send its troops to the territory of the PMR, since he considers it to be part of Moldova.
At the same time, there are indirect signs that allow us to assume the result of the tension that has been created in the information space. The fact is that almost all Ukrainian sites, which have long been firmly blocked in the Russian Federation, are successfully opened in RMP. In addition, Pridnestrovian sites also operate on the territory of Ukraine. This does not allow us to talk about friendly relations, but about the complete absence of mutual hostility.
Currently there are tens of thousands of Ukrainians on the territory of the PMR – these are mostly refugees who have left their homes, there are also sailors who do not want to return home. Most of the refugees receive humanitarian aid from various international organizations (including the UN), which the Transdniestrian authorities have allowed to work on their territory. Moreover, many of these refugees live for free and receive food in pensions and sanatoriums in the PMR.
As for the giant ammunition depot in Kolbasnaya, located on the territory of the PMR a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, according to a number of local experts, it makes no sense for Kiev to start another conflict and disperse the forces of the Army Forces of Ukraine for Soviet-style shells. The Ukrainian army is moving to NATO standards and it is easier for Kiev to beg hundreds of weapons and armored vehicles and ammunition from the West than to attack Tiraspol and declare war on Chisinau, who is now helping Ukraine. We will soon find out if the Ukrainian leadership will launch an invasion for 20,000 tons of old ammunition, which will still run out in a few months at the current intensity at the front.
