In an interview with DW, the general said that, according to his information, which has been confirmed by international organizations, there are still around 20,000 tons of ammunition for artillery and infantry as well as other military equipment stored there.Ī study by the Moldovan Academy of Sciences has warned that the impact of an explosion of the depots would be "equivalent to the atomic bombs from Hiroshima and Nagasaki," said Marinuta. The former Moldovan Defense Minister Vitalie Marinuta also sees other dangers. Mainly due to the Ukraine crisis there is growing concern in the Moldovan capital Chisinau that the weapons could be used in a military conflict. Former Moldovan Defense Minister Vitalie Marinuta Image: DW Weapons from the former Soviet 14th Army are still stockpiled there, including arms and ammunition stemming from the one-time "Brother States" of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Czechoslovakia. The former Soviet Republic of Moldova in fact lost control of the swath of land, but still considered it to be part of its sovereign territory.Ī huge weapons depot is located in Cobasna under the control of Transnistrian forces and Russian peacekeeping troops, who have been stationed there since fighting broke out in 1992.Īlthough the Russian Federation committed itself at the OECD Summit in 1999 to withdrawing its forces from Transnistria, there are still around 1,500 Russian troops deployed there at the Cobasna depot. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Transnistria – the region on the other side of the Dnjestr River – declared its independence, but was not officially recognized by any other country. The rather nondescript village of Cobasna is located around 200 kilometers from the border, which divides the Republic of Moldova from the separatist region of Transnistria.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |