Moldova Sees No Signs of Military Threat From Russia, Kishinev Says

KISHINEV (Sputnik) - The Moldovan Defence Ministry said on Monday it sees no indication that the country faces a military threat from Russia despite recent reports in media.

The Times reported on Sunday, citing Ukrainian sources, that Russia is allegedly planning to attack Moldova.

"Regarding the report by The Times about Moldova, we are announcing that all state institutions have been on high alert since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and are carefully monitoring the situation. At the moment there is no indication that Moldova is under threat," ministry spokeswoman Ala Diaconu told Moldovan broadcaster TV8.

According to her, this assumption is shared not only by Moldova's authorities but by the country's international partners as well.

Last month, Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, which borders Ukraine, was hit by a series of explosions. The Transnistrian investigative authority initiated a criminal probe into "an act of terrorism committed by a group of people with firearms." Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky claimed that the traces of the organisers led to Ukraine, while Moldovan President Maia Sandu insisted that the attempts to escalate the situation in the region were undertaken by violent forces within Transnistria, which intend to drag Moldova into war.

Transnistria, 60% of whose population is Russian and Ukrainian, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that Moldova would integrate with Romania. In 1992, after a failed attempt by the Moldovan authorities to solve the issue by force, Transnistria became a territory not controlled by Kishinev de facto.

On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations.