Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova, said on Sunday that an explosive drone, sent from neighboring Ukraine, had struck a military base in its capital.
“An explosion caused a fire on the territory of a military base in Tiraspol. Preliminary (findings) established that the explosion was caused by a kamikaze drone attack
,” said the Ministry of State Security of the self-proclaimed republic, cited by Russian and local media, specifying that the device came from the Odessa region of Ukraine.
Transdniestrian public television published a surveillance video on its Telegram account showing a projectile hitting a military helicopter which exploded and caught fire in the process.
A narrow strip of land between Moldova and Ukraine, Transdniestria seceded after a short war in 1992 against the Moldovan army.
Since the 1990s, Russia has supported this separatist territory of Moldova, a pro-European and Romanian-speaking country in the former USSR, bordering Ukraine.
Russia regularly claims that Moldova and Ukraine are preparing provocations or attacks there and still maintains 1,500 soldiers there, according to official figures, supposed in particular to ensure a peacekeeping mission.
The breakaway region neighbors Ukraine's Odessa region, which Moscow's forces failed to conquer when they invaded Ukraine in February 2024. In late February, Transdniestrian authorities asked Moscow for
"protective measures »
in the face of
“increased pressure”
, according to them, from Chisinau.