Transnistria War

The Transnistria War (Romanian: Războiul din Transnistria; Russian: Война в

Transnistria War
Приднестровье, romanized:  Voyna v Pridnestrovye) was an armed conflict that broke out on 2
November 1990 in Dubăsari (Russian: Дубосса́ры, romanized:  Dubossary) between pro- Part of Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Transnistria
Transnistria (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic [PMR]) forces, including the Transnistrian conflict
Republican Guard, militia and neo-Cossack units (which were supported by elements of the
Russian 14th Army), and pro-Moldovan forces, including Moldovan troops and police.

Fighting intensified on 1 March 1992 and, alternating with ad hoc ceasefires, lasted throughout
the spring and early summer of 1992 until a ceasefire was declared on 21 July 1992, which has
held. The conflict is sometimes known as the Moldo-Russian war (Romanian: Războiul
moldo-rus) in Moldova and Romania.[34]

Contents
Background
Historical background
Political background
Political conflict
Military strength
Military conflict
Cocieri-Dubăsari area
Coșnița area Military situation in Transnistria ever since the end of
Bender/Tighina area the Transnistria War

Ceasefire and Joint Control Commission     Controlled by Moldova

    Transnistrian territory

Human rights abuses

Outside involvement
Involvement of the Russian Army
Involvement of Russian and Ukrainian volunteers
Involvement of Romania
See also
References
Further reading Date 2 November 1990 – 21 July 1992

(1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks and 5 days)

External links
Location Transnistria, Moldova
Result Russo–Transnistrian victory
Background
Transnistria becomes a de facto
independent state, but remains
Historical background internationally recognized as part of
Moldova
Before the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina and the creation of the
Belligerents
Moldavian SSR in 1940, the Bessarabian part of Moldova, i.e. the part situated to the west of the
river Dniester (Nistru), was part of Romania (1918–1940). The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact  Moldova
 Transnistria

between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, that led to the events of 1940, was later Supported by:
 Russia[2][3]

denounced by present-day Moldova, which declared it "null and void" in its Declaration of  Romania[1] Diplomatic support:

Independence in 1991. However, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the territorial changes  Ukraine[4]
resulting from it have remained in place.
Commanders and leaders
Before the creation of the Moldavian SSR, today's Transnistria was part of the Ukrainian SSR, as Mircea Snegur
Igor Smirnov

an autonomous republic called the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, with Valeriu Muravschi
Vladimir Rilyakov

Tiraspol as its capital (1924–1940). It represents slightly more than one tenth of Moldova's Ion Costaș
Ștefan Chițac

territory. Pavel Creangă

Nikolay Lepkhov

Tudor Dabija- Vladimir Atamaniuk

[5] Fedor Dobrov[9]

Political background Cazarov

Constantin Antoci
Yuri Grosul

[6]
Under Soviet rule, the Moldavian SSR became subject of policy of Russification, including Nicolae Chirtoacă
Vladimir
isolation from the Romanian cultural sphere and the restoration of the Cyrillic alphabet for the Leonid Carasev [7][6]
Antyufeyev[10]

Romanian language.[35] During the last years of the 1980s, the political landscape of the Soviet Boris Muravschi[8] Tom Zenovich

Union was changing due to Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost, which Boris Yeltsin

allowed political pluralism at the regional (republican) level. In the Moldavian SSR, as in many Alexander Lebed[11]

other parts of the Soviet Union, national movements became the leading political force.[36] As Dmitry Rogozin[12]

these movements exhibited increasingly nationalist sentiments and expressed intent to leave the
Mikhail Bergman[13]
USSR in favor of uniting with Romania, they encountered growing opposition from among the
primarily Russian-speaking ethnic minorities living in the republic.[37] This opposition to the Units involved
new trends and potential future policies was manifested in a more visible way in Transnistria,
where, unlike the rest of the MSSR, ethnic Moldovans (39.9%) were outnumbered by the Armed Forces of Armed Forces of
combined figure of Russians and Ukrainians (53.8%) as per the 1989 Census in Transnistria, Moldova
Transnistria
largely due to higher immigration during the Soviet era. Ministry of Interior
Affairs of Moldova Republican Guard
While some believe that the combination of a distinct history (especially 1918–1940) and a fear
of discrimination by Moldovans, gave rise to separatist sentiments, others believe that ethnic Ministry of Interior
tensions alone fail to account for the dynamics of the conflict. According to John Mackinlay and
Peter Cross, who conducted a study based on casualty reports, significant numbers of both Moldovan Militsiya
Transnistrians and Moldovans fought together on both sides of the conflict. They suggest that General Police
the conflict is more political in nature.[38] Inspectorate Unity Movement for
Equality in Rights
On 31 August 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR enacted two laws. One of them
Pro-Moldovan
made Moldovan the official language, in lieu of Russian, the de facto official language of the Russian Armed
Transnistrian
Soviet Union. It also mentioned a linguistic Moldo–Romanian identity. The second law Forces
volunteer forces[14]

stipulated the return to the Latin Romanian alphabet. Moldovan language is the term used in
the former Soviet Union for a virtually identical dialect of the Romanian language during 1940– Romanian 14th Guards
1989. On 27 April 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR adopted the traditional volunteers
Army
tricolour (blue, yellow and red) flag with the Moldavian coat of arms and later changed in 1991 [15][16] and military (elements)[15][18][19][20]
the national anthem to Deșteaptă-te, române!, the national anthem of Romania since 1990.
Later in 1990, the words Soviet and Socialist were dropped and the name of the country was advisors[17]
Russian
changed to "Republic of Moldova". volunteers
These events, including the end of the Ceaușescu regime in neighboring Romania in December
RNU[21]
1989 and the partial opening of the border between Romania and Moldova on 6 May 1990, led
many in Transnistria and Moldova to believe that a union between Moldova and Romania was Don
inevitable. This possibility caused fears among the Russian-speaking population that it would be Cossacks[22]
excluded from most aspects of public life. From September 1989, there were strong scenes of Kuban Cossack
protests in the region against the central government's ethnic policies. The protests developed Military Society[23]
into the formation of secessionist movements in Gagauzia and Transnistria, which initially
Orenburg
sought autonomy within the Moldavian SSR, in order to retain Russian and Gagauz as official
languages. As the nationalist-dominated Moldavian Supreme Soviet outlawed these initiatives, Cossacks[24]
the Gagauz Republic and Transnistria declared independence from Moldova and announced Union of
their application to be reattached to the Soviet Union as independent federal republics.[37] Cossacks of Russia

Ukrainian
Political conflict volunteers

The language laws presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non- UNA-UNSO[25][26]
Moldovan population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Moldovan (Romanian). The problem
Gagauz
of the official language in the MSSR had become a Gordian knot, being exaggerated and,
volunteers[27]
perhaps, intentionally politicized. Some described the language laws as "discriminatory" and
criticized their rapid implementation. Others, on the contrary, complained the laws were not Casualties and losses
followed. 279–324 killed[28][29]
364–913 killed

1,180 wounded 624 wounded[30][31][32]

On 2 September 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed;
"Pridnestrovie" being the name for Transnistria in Russian. On 22 December 1990 president 316–637 civilians killed in total[33]
Gorbachev signed a decree that declared void the decisions of the Second Congress of People
Deputies of Transnistria from 2 September. For two months, Moldovan authorities refrained from taking action against this proclamation.
Transnistria became one of the "unrecognized republics" that appeared throughout the USSR, alongside Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-
Karabakh. These self-proclaimed states maintained close ties with each other.
One of the first clashes between the Moldovan government and separatists occurred on 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari.[39] Local women stormed
the Court and Prosecutor's Office and stayed there for several hours. A police detachment was then dispatched to clear a roadblock placed by the
city residents on the bridge over the river Dniester that effectively cut the city off from the central government. After being prevented from clearing
the roadblock, policemen opened fire, with three residents of Dubăsari being killed and 13 were wounded, resulting in the first casualties of the
conflict.[39][40]

In the aftermath of the failure of the Soviet coup attempt of 1991, on 27 August 1991, the Moldovan parliament adopted the Declaration of
Independence of the Republic of Moldova. The declaration referred to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact as "null and void" and viewed Moldova's
Independence as an act of elimination of "the political and legal consequences of the above", declaring that the establishment of the Moldavian
SSR on the territories of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Hertsa region and the Moldavian ASSR was made in absence of "any real legal basis".[41]
The PMR interpreted this as meaning that the 1940-merger of the two sides of the Dniester river was dissolved. Moldova, however, did not agree,
as large portions of the territory occupied in 1940 by USSR remain in Ukraine, and almost immediately took steps to assert its sovereignty over the
full territory of the former MSSR.

At that time, the Republic of Moldova did not have its own army and the first attempts to create one took place in early 1992 in response to the
escalating conflict. 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 three other deputies arrived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to
meet Ukrainian leader Leonid Kravchuk, Smirnov and Andrei Cheban were arrested by Moldova's police and immediately transported to a prison
in Moldova. In protest, the women's strike committee headed by Galina Andreeva blocked the Moscow–Chișinău railway line at a waypoint
between Bender (Tighina) and Tiraspol, until the men were freed.

In late 1991, policemen in Tiraspol and Rîbnița swore allegiance to the PMR.

Military strength
By 1992, Moldova had troops under the Ministry of the Interior. On 17 March 1992, they started recruiting
troops for the newly created Ministry of Defence.[42] By July 1992, total Moldovan troop strength has been
estimated at 25,000–35,000, including called-up police officers, conscripts, reservists and volunteers,
especially from the Moldavian localities near the conflict zone.

In addition to Soviet weaponry inherited upon independence, Moldova also obtained arms from Romania.[43]
Romania also sent military advisors and volunteers[44] to aid Moldova during the conflict.

At the same time, the Russian 14th Guards Army in Moldovan territory numbered about 14,000 professional
soldiers. The PMR authorities had 9,000 militiamen trained and armed by officers of the 14th Army. The PMR trucks on the bridge between
volunteers came from the Russian Federation: a number of Don, Kuban, Orenburg, Sibir and local Tiraspol and Bender (Tighina)
Transnistrian Black Sea Cossacks joined in to fight alongside the separatists. Due to the irregular makeup of
the forces, troop strength of the PMR is in dispute, but it is believed that during March it numbered around
12,000.[45]
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 PMR forces.[46][47] A significant portion of the personnel of the Russian 14th Army were local conscripts and officers that
had been given local residence. PMR units were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian
troops chose not to oppose the PMR units who had come to help themselves from the Army's stores; on the contrary, in many cases they helped the
PMR troops 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 PMR forces
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 the PMR. The government of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan
government to obtain the release of General Yakovlev in exchange for 26 policemen detained by PMR forces at the start of the fighting in Dubăsari.

On 5 April 1992, Vice President Rutskoy of Russia, in a speech delivered to 5,000 people in Tiraspol, encouraged the Transnistrian people to
obtain their independence.

Military conflict
The first fatalities in the emerging conflict took place on 2 November 1990, two months after the PMR's 2 September 1990 declaration of
independence. Moldovan forces entered Dubăsari in order to separate Transnistria into two halves, but were stopped by the city's inhabitants, who
had blocked the bridge over the Dniester, at Lunga. In an attempt to break through the roadblock, Moldovan forces then opened fire.[48] In the
course of the confrontation, three Dubăsari locals, Oleg Geletiuk, Vladimir Gotkas and Valerie Mitsuls, were killed by the Moldovan forces and
sixteen people wounded.[31]

A second Moldovan attempt to cross the Lunga bridge took place on 13 December 1991. As a result of the fighting, 27 PMR troops were taken
prisoner and four Moldovan troops (Ghenadie Iablocikin, Gheorghe Cașu, Valentin Mereniuk and Mihai Arnăut) were killed,[49] without Moldova
being able to cross the bridge. After this second failed attempt, there was a lull in military activity until 2 March 1992, considered the official start
date of the War of Transnistria. This day was the same day when Moldova was admitted as a member of the United Nations, i.e. received full
international recognition of its 27 August 1991 declaration of independence. After Transnistrian paramilitary advances Moldova declared the state
of emergency on 29 March, the armed conflict culminated in May and June in three areas along the Dniester river, and died down on 19–21 June
after the Battle of Tighina (now Bender) where the 14th former Soviet Army intervened and drove the Moldovan army putting an end to the
conflict.

Cocieri-Dubăsari area

The first area of military action was on the eastern shore of the Dniester river, from north to south, the villages of Molovata Nouă, Cocieri (approx
6,000 inhabitants), Corjova and the city of Dubăsari (approx 30,000 inhabitants), together forming a contiguous mainly inhabited area 10–12 km
(about 7 miles) along the shore. The only connection to the western bank from the three villages is either a ferry, or two bridges in Dubăsari.

On 1 March 1992 Igor Shipcenko, the PMR militia chief of Dubăsari, was killed by a teenager and Moldovan police were accused of the killing.
Although minor, this incident was a sufficient spark for the already very tense situation to blow up and cause the conflict to escalate.
In response, the Cossacks who came from Rostov-on-Don to support the PMR side stormed the police precinct in
Dubăsari during the night. Moldovan president Mircea Snegur, afraid of starting an armed conflict, ordered the
26 policemen to surrender to the attacking Cossacks and PMR forces. They were later exchanged for Lieutenant-
General Yakovlev. Moldovan policemen loyal to Chișinău from the Dubăsari raion (district), instead of returning
to work in the occupied precinct in Dubăsari, now a milice precinct, gathered in Cocieri.

On 2 March 1992, locals from Cocieri, after hearing about the situation in Dubăsari, broke into the small local
arms depot to arm themselves against the PMR side. Three locals (Alexandru Luchianov from Cocieri, Alexandru
Gazea from Molovata and Mihai Nour from Roghi) were killed, but the military unit from Cocieri was defeated by
the Moldovans. The officers and their families were forced to leave the village.[50] More policemen were ferried
the following days from the western bank of the Dniester. They organized a defense line around the three villages,
while PMR forces retained control of Dubăsari. In the following weeks both PMR and Moldovan forces amassed
large numbers in the area and fought a trench war, with intermittent ceasefires.

Coșnița area Building still showing damage

from the brief fighting in Bender
A similar development occurred on 13 March in the villages of Coșnița, Pîrîta, Pohrebea and Doroțcaia. A second during Transnistria's war for
"bridge-head" was formed on the eastern bank, now south of Dubăsari. independence from Moldova

In April, Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy visited Transnistria and expressed the full support of
Transnistrian separatists by Soviet Russia.[51]

Bender/Tighina area

A ceasefire was in negotiation during June 1992 in the Bender (Tighina) area. However, a full-scale battle erupted after regular Moldovan forces
entered the city of Bender 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 Bender on 19 June 1992. On the afternoon of that day, the Moldovan police in Bender arrested the 14th Army's
Major Yermakov on suspicion of planned subversion. After his arrest, PMR guards opened fire on the police station. The Moldovan government
ordered its troops to enter the city the following morning. Urban warfare ensued between the two sides in the densely populated city, causing
civilian casualties.[52] The Moldovan radio said three Soviet Russian T-64 tanks from the 14th Army, some bearing Russian flags, were destroyed
when closing in on central Bender,[52] two of them by T-12 antitank guns, and a third by a rocket propelled grenade that set its engine on fire. A
fourth tank was disabled when its tracks were struck by a rocket propelled grenade.[53] Russian Army spokesmen said the tanks had been seized
from depots by separatists. Russian sources reported "dozens of dead" in the streets.[52]

The news of the havoc in Bender reached Tiraspol, only 11 km (7 miles) away, as Moldovan troops were approaching the crucial bridge over the
Dniester. At this point, with the support of ROG's tanks, the Transnistrian Republican Guard and Cossack volunteers rushed to confront the
Moldovan forces. Russia Vice-president Rutskoy, in a speech delivered on the main channel of the Russian television, called for all Russian forces
in Tiraspol to storm Bender. In the course of the following days, parts of the city of Bender, including the center, were retaken by PMR forces.
On 22 June 1992, acting on news that troops from the 14th Army were ready to cross the Dniestr and move deep into Moldova, the Moldovan
military ordered an airstrike to destroy the bridge between Bender and Tiraspol. A three MiG-29 package took off from Chisinau, two of them
armed with six OFAB-250 bombs each. The other aircraft was a MiG-29UB providing cover. No direct hits were achieved on the intended target,
but the bridge received some blast and splinter damage from near misses. One of the bombs went astray and fell on a civilian residence, killing a
number of people inside. Sources from the 14th Army claimed a second MiG-29 attack on an oil refinery at Tiraspol the following day, in which one
aircraft was allegedly shot down by a S-125 Neva/Pechora missile, but this sortie was denied by Moldovan authorities.[53][54]

Ceasefire and Joint Control Commission

A ceasefire 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 PMR battalions under the orders of a joint military command structure, the Joint Control
Commission (JCC).

It is estimated that in total nearly one thousand people were 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 Bender's war memorial
and the Moldovan army, took place in Gîsca (Gyska), a village with an ethnic Russian majority near
Bender. 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 JCC.

With the PMR's overwhelming military superiority, Moldova had little chance of achieving victory and the fighting was unpopular with the
skeptical Moldovan population.[55]

Human rights abuses

According to a Human Rights Center “Memorial” report, local Bender eyewitnesses on 19 June 1992 saw Moldovan troops in armored vehicles
deliberately firing at houses, courtyards and cars with heavy machine guns.[40] The next day, Moldovan troops allegedly shot at civilians that were
hiding in houses, trying to escape the city, or helping wounded PMR guardsmen. Other local eyewitnesses testified that in the same day, unarmed
men that gathered in the Bender downtown square in request of the PMR Executive Committee, were fired at from machine guns.[40] HRC
observers were told by doctors in Bender that as a result of heavy fire from Moldovan positions between 19 and 20 June, they were unable to
attend the wounded.[40]
From 21 to 22 June, both sides engaged in intense urban street fighting, which employed the use of tanks, artillery and grenade launchers. Officers
from both sides admitted that these actions led to an increase in civilian casualties.[40] During this time period, ambulance cars were fired upon,
with both sides accusing each other of the attacks. PMR sources stated that in Bender, one doctor was killed and several wounded, while six
ambulance personnel were wounded in Kaushany.[40]

In the Moldovan city of Chișinău, HRC Memorial observers interviewed 12 Transnistrian prisoners of war. The prisoners stated that while being
initially detained and interrogated in Kaushany, they were severely beaten with clubs and gun buttstocks by Moldovan police, as well as being
threatened with firing squads. There were also reports of captured Moldovan policemen, soldiers and volunteers being beaten and tortured by
PMR forces.[40]

Outside involvement

Involvement of the Russian Army

Although the Russian Army officially took the position of neutrality and non-involvement, many of its officers were sympathetic towards the
fledgling Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and some even defected in order to help the PMR side openly. ROG Parcani sapper battalion,
under the orders of General Butkevich, went over to the PMR side. This battalion later destroyed the bridges at Dubăsari, Gura Bâcului–Bâcioc and
Coșnița. Moldovan forces used aircraft in the village of Parcani (Parkany) and shelled the ROG station there which meant engaging not just PMR
but also Russian forces.

In 1991, PMR paramilitary forces conducted forays into supply depots of the 14th Guards Army, appropriating an unknown but large amount of
equipment. With the commanding officer of the 14th Guards Army, General G. I. Yakovlev, openly supporting the newly created PMR, these forays
usually met no resistance from army guards, who never faced punishment. Yakovlev eventually participated in the founding of the PMR, served in
the PMR Supreme Soviet and accepted the position as the first chairman of the PMR Department of Defense on 3 December 1991, causing the
Commander-in-Chief of the CIS armed forces, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, to promptly relieve him of his rank and service in the Russian military.[56]
Yakovlev's successor, General Yuriy Netkachev has assumed a more neutral stance in the conflict. However, his attempts at mediation between
Chișinău and Tiraspol were largely unsuccessful and the situation escalated to an open military engagement by June 1992. On 23 June, in the wake
of a coordinated offensive by Moldovan forces, Major General Alexander Lebed arrived at the 14th Army headquarters with standing orders to
inspect the army, prevent the theft of armaments from its depots, stop the ongoing conflict with any means available and ensure the unimpeded
evacuation of armaments and Army personnel from Moldovan and through Ukrainian territory. After briefly assessing the situation, he assumed
command of the army, relieving Netkachev, and ordered his troops to enter the conflict directly. On 3 July at 03:00, a massive artillery strike from
14th Army formations stationed on left bank of the Dniester obliterated the Moldovan force concentrated in Gerbovetskii forest, near Bender,
effectively ending the military phase of the conflict.[57][58] Romanian authors Anatolie Muntean and Nicolae Ciubotaru attribute to Lebed a quote
demonstrating his support of the Transnistrian cause: "I am proud that we helped and armed Transnistrian guards against Moldovan fascists".[59]
He also called himself as "guarantor" of the "Dniester Republic".[60] However, he bore no goodwill towards the Transnistrian leadership and
frequently denounced them as "criminals" and "bandits". Another quote attributed to him describes his stance as follows: "I told the hooligans
[separatists] in Tiraspol and the fascists in Chișinău – either you stop killing each other, or else I'll shoot the whole lot of you with my tanks".[15]

Involvement of Russian and Ukrainian volunteers

Volunteers from Russia and Ukraine, including Don and Kuban Cossacks, fought on Transnistria's side. There is no general consensus on the
number of volunteers or the military role they played in the conflict. Estimates range from as low as 200 to as high as 3,000.[61][62]

During the Transnistria War, UNA-UNSO members fought alongside Transnistrian separatists against Moldovan government forces in defense of
a large ethnic-Ukrainian minority in Transnistria.[25] The incongruous motive of assisting a mostly pro-Russian region was for the "struggle of
Slavs over Moldovan-Romanian aggression."[25] Following the war, 50 UNSO members were awarded the PMR "Defender of Transnistria" medal.

According to Romanian sources, at least one inmate was released from Bender prison to be enrolled in the Transnistrian Guard.[61]

Involvement of Romania

Shortly before the escalation of the conflict in late June 1992, Romania provided military support to Moldova by supplying weaponry, ammunition
and armed vehicles,[43][62] and also by sending military advisers and training Moldovan military and police forces.[58] Volunteers from Romania
fought on Moldova's side.[15][16][63]

See also
History of Transnistria
Kozak memorandum
Military history of the Russian Federation
Moldova–Transnistria relations
Odessa Military District
Russian military presence in Transnistria
Transnistria conflict

References
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(https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2627078/
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2. De La Pedraja, René (2018). The Russian Military Resurgence:
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конфликте" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140726203644/http://w
ww.olvia.idknet.com/ol09-07.html). olvia.idknet.com (in Russian).
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by Sabrina Ramet, Pennsylvania University Press. 1999 ISBN 0-
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(«Краще згинути вовком, нiж жити псом») (https://www.umolod
a.kiev.ua/number/1932/222/68726/). Ukrayina Moloda. 19 August
2011
27. Bejan, Ștefan (21 August 2017). " "Noi trebuie să ne închinăm
rușilor și să uităm de români". Interviu cu primul lider al găgăuzilor
din Moldova" (http://moldnova.eu/ro/noi-trebuie-sa-ne-inchinam-rusil
or-si-sa-uitam-de-romani-interviu-cu-primul-lider-al-gagauzilor-din-m
oldova-20505.html/). moldNova (in Romanian).
28. "Monumentul eroilor căzuți în războiul transnistrean" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20110722171756/http://www.monument.md/catalog/co
mpozitii_monumentale/165/). Monument.md. 29 August 1998.
Archived from the original (http://www.monument.md/catalog/compo
zitii_monumentale/165/#) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 5 September
2011.
29. Accente, Nr. 36, 14 March 2002
30. Dnestrovskaya Pravda, no. 84-85, page 2, 24 November 2001
31. "Dubossary marked anniversary of the first Dniester engagement" (h
ttps://newdaynews.ru/pmr/90227.html). newdaynews.ru. 4 March
2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
32. ВОЗРОЖДЕННОМУ В ПРИДНЕСТРОВЬЕ ЧЕРНОМОРСКОМУ
КАЗАЧЬЕМУ ВОЙСКУ – 15 ЛЕТ (http://www.olvia.idknet.com/ol166
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4/http://olvia.idknet.com/ol166-12-06.htm) 3 May 2007 at the
Wayback Machine Olvia Press. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 18
December 2006; See also: "В Приднестровье отмечают 15-летие
Черноморского казачьего войск," (http://www.nr2.ru/pmr/96375.ht
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33. Uppsala Conflict Data Program, Moldova: Dniestr (entire
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http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?
id=108&regionSelect=9-Eastern_Europe#, viewed 3 May 2013
34. Ursu, Valentina (1 March 2020). "Oazu Nantoi: "Conflictul nu este
intern. Pacificatorii ruși au menirea de a nu admite rezolvarea
acestui conflict" " (https://moldova.europalibera.org/a/oazu-nantoi-co
nflictul-nu-este-intern-pacificatorii-ru%C8%99i-au-menirea-de-a-nu-
admite-rezolvarea-acestui-conflict-/30462562.html). Radio Europa
Liberă Moldova (in Romanian).
35. "Transdniestrian conflict: origins and issues" (https://www.osce.org/
moldova/42308). OSCE. 10 June 1994. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
36. Hare, Paul (1999). "Who are the Moldovans?" (https://books.google.
com/books?id=lg7SIfkr1HwC&pg=PA363). In Paul Hare;
Mohammed Ishaq; Judy Batt (eds.). Reconstituting the market: the
political economy of microeconomic transformation. Taylor &
Francis. p. 363. ISBN 90-5702-328-8. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
37. Hare, Ishaq, Batt, p. 369-370.
38. [John Mackinlay and Peter Cross: Regional Peacekeepers, The
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40. "Large-scale and gross violations of human rights and the situation
in the zone of armed conflict in and around the city of Bender (June-
July, 1992)" (http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/moldavia/benderye.ht
m). Human Rights Center "Memorial". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
41. Moldova's 1991 Declaration of Independence (http://pridnestrovie.ne
t/moldova_declaration_of_independence.html) Archived (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20070617065530/http://pridnestrovie.net/moldova
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Machine
42. "Istoria creării Armatei Naționale (Moldova)" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20110904090709/http://www.army.gov.md/?action=show&cat
=7). Army.gov.md. Archived from the original (http://www.army.gov.m
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5 September 2011.
43. Arms and Ethnic Conflict, John Sislin, Frederic S. Pearson
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), p. 99 (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=6HMmOs8klhUC&pg), ISBN 0-8476-8855-0
44. "Voronin says Romania started Moldova's war against Transnistria"
(http://miris.eurac.edu/mugs2/do/blob.html?type=html&serial=12236
25231678). miris.eurac.edu. Tiraspol Times. 29 April 2008.
Retrieved 25 March 2022.
45. Евгений Норин. Под знаменами демократии. С. 51
46. Vahl, Marius. Borderland Europe: Transforming Transnistria? (http://
ceps01.link.be/Article.php?article_id=222) Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20070325194808/http://ceps01.link.be/Article.php?arti
cle_id=222) 25 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Centre for
European Political Studies, October 2001.
47. Analysis of the Transnistrian Conflict (https://www.hrw.org/reports/19
93/russia/#P169_26952) "Human Rights and Russian Military
Involvement in the "Near Abroad"" Human Rights Watch December.
1993
48. Vlad Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictlui de la Dubăsari", Prut
International 2005, ISBN 9975-69-741-0, page 30-34 (Romanian)]
49. Vlad Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari",
page 38-39
50. V. Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari", page
65-68
51. Хроника конфликта в Приднестровско – Молдавской республике
с 1988 по 2006 г. (http://mkspmr.idknet.com/content/view/790/209/)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090317032243/http://mksp
mr.idknet.com/content/view/790/209/) 17 March 2009 at the
Wayback Machine (in Russian); Alexander Rutskoi visit in Bender in
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YouTube
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92/06/21/world/moldovan-forces-seize-a-key-town.html). The New
York Times. 21 June 1992.
53. Cooper, Tim; Stratulat, Alexandru (May 1998). "War in Moldova
(1992)". Airman Magazine.
Further reading
Vlad Grecu, O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari, Editura Prut International, Chișinău, 2005 (in Romanian)
54. Bárcenas Medina, Luis Andrés; López Jiménez, José Ángel
(December 2011). "Los Conflictos Congelados de la Antigua Unión
Soviética" (https://publicaciones.defensa.gob.es/media/downloadabl
e/files/links/c/o/conflictos_congelados_union_sovietica.pdf) (PDF).
Conflictos Internacionales Contemporáneos (in Spanish). Ministerio
de Defensa. 15: 60–1.
55. William Crowther,"Moldova: caught between nation and empire," in
New States, New Politics, Ian Bremmer and Ray Taras, eds.,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 322.
56. (in Russian) Anna Volkova, Leader (http://www.olvia.idknet.com/glav
a6.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150924055959/htt
p://www.olvia.idknet.com/glava6.htm) 24 September 2015 at the
Wayback Machine (Tiraspol’: [s.n.], 2001), 56. Chapter 6.
57. Irina F. Selivanova. "U.S. and Russian Policymaking With Respect
to the Use of Force", chapter 4, Trans-Dniestria (https://www.rand.or
g/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF129/CF-129-chapter4.html)
58. (in Russian) "Вождь в чужой стае" (http://femida-pmr.narod.ru/politi
ka/051012_bergman.htm) by Mikhail Bergman
59. Anatolie Muntean, Nicolae Ciubotaru – "Războiul de pe Nistru" (The
war on Dniestr), Ager-Economistul Publishing House, Bucharest
2004, page 451 (with a photo of Lebed inspecting Transnistrian
guards) (in Romanian)
60. Bodie, William C. (18 March 1993). "Moscow's "near Abroad":
Security Policy in Post-Soviet Europe" (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=WI8Q4vkWiM8C&q=guarantor). Institute for National
Strategic Studies, National Defense University – via Google Books.
61. (in Romanian) Anatolie Muntean, Nicolae Ciubotaru – "Războiul de
pe Nistru", Ager – Economistul Publishing House, Bucharest 2004,
pages 119 and 122.
62. Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and
American Perspectives, Alexei Arbatov, et al. eds. (Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1997), p. 178 (https://books.google.com/books?id=ArKtx7Xs
MHAC&printsec=frontcover#PPA178,M1), ISBN 0-262-51093-6
63. Приднестровский парламентарий: Причиной приднестровского
конфликта стало то, что Молдавия провозгласила себя
моноэтническим государством (http://www.regnum.ru/news/96639
9.html), REGNUM News Agency, 20:04 3 March 2008
 Covalschi, Stanislav; Leancă, Viorica (2014). "Aspect Geopolitic al Conflictului Transnistrean" (http://www.jurnaluljuridic.in.ua/archive/2014/3/4
5.pdf) [Geopolitical Aspect of the Transnistrian Conflict] (PDF). Jurnalul juridic național: Teorie și practică (3): 242–247. ISSN 2345-1130 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/issn/2345-1130). Retrieved 18 April 2021.

External links
Armed conflict in and around the city of Bender (http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/moldavia/benderye.htm)

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