Series of Explosions Rock Transnistria's Ministry of State Security Building: Correspondent

Transnistria, formally known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, is a breakaway region sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. The region split from Moldova in 1990 after Kishinev declared sovereignty from the USSR, sparking an armed conflict. Russian peacekeeping forces were deployed in Transnistria in 1992.

The Ministry of State Security building in Tiraspol, Transnistria has been rocked by a series of explosions, a Sputnik correspondent has reported.

According to local media, brigades of firefighters, ambulances, police, sappers, and gas utilities service teams have been deployed to the scene. Traffic near the building has been blocked off.

Images of the ministry building published on social media show a number of its windows blown out. The windows of buildings next to it also sustained damage.

Photos posted by a local Telegram news channel shows damage to neighbouring buildings.

Some Telegram channels also published photos, allegedly taken by eyewitnesses, showing what appear to be spent rocket launchers on a road next to the building.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed Monday evening that "according to preliminary data", the building was fired at repeatedly with portable anti-tank rocket launchers. No one was hurt in the incident, according to the ministry.

Situated on the right bank of the Dniester River, Trasnistria has enjoyed de facto independence from Moldova since 1992, when Russian peacekeepers were deployed in the region to halt fighting between Kishinev and local pro-independence forces. The breakaway republic is sandwiched between Moldova to its west and Ukraine to its east, and has faced heightened tensions amid the ongoing Russia military operation in Ukraine.

Transnistria is not recognised by any member of the United Nations, but is recognised by Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a pair of Caucasus breakaways which enjoy limited recognition from countries including Russia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela.

Transnistria is home to about 475,000 people, with ethnic Moldovans, Russians, and Ukrainians making up 33, 34 and 26.7 percent of the population, respectively, and other ethnic groups including Bulgarians, Gagauz, Belarusians, Germans, and Jews. At the time that it proclaimed its independence in 1990, despite accounting for just 12 percent of the Moldovan Soviet Republic's land area, the region accounted for 40 percent of its industry and 90 percent of its electricity production. Today, Transnistria and Moldova are among the poorest countries in Europe.