Rare Drone Attack On Military Base In Breakaway Pro-Russian Republic Of Transnistria
An unprecedented or at least extremely rare attack has just targeted a military base in the pro-Russian breakaway Moldovan republic of Transnistria on Sunday.
A kamikaze drone hit a military base in Tiraspol, the capital of unrecognized Transnistria, local officials have told RIA Novosti. The attack reportedly resulted in fire and damage to military assets at the airfield, but there were no casualties.
Russian state media said a helicopter stationed at the airfield was destroyed in the UAV attack. Presumably the helicopter belonged to either Transnistria separatists or to the Russian military.
"Today a fire occurred on the territory of a military base in Tiraspol as a result of an explosion," local authorities were cited in AFP as saying.
"It was preliminarily established that the explosion was caused by a kamikaze drone attack," they added, and alleged the drone launched from the Odesa region. They are blaming Ukraine forces for the rare cross-border attack.
The incident was not immediately confirmed either by the Russian or Ukraine governments. "Grainy footage distributed by separatist authorities showed a projectile slamming into a military helicopter standing at an airbase surrounded by fields," AFP noted.
Close-up footage of the Mi-8 helicopter in Transnistria being attacked by a drone pic.twitter.com/QMekkx47jO
— Faytuks News Δ (@Faytuks) March 17, 2024
Regardless of the AFP headline which says Breakaway Moldova Region Blames Military Site Blast On Drone From Ukraine... there remain conflicting reports on the origin point of the drone launch.
Russia's RT writes, "Transnistria’s state security ministry alleged that the drone arrived from the so-called “Clover Bridge” area – a major multi-level highway junction located north of the city of Tiraspol and close to the Ukrainian border." Further the report notes that "The unrecognized republic’s authorities have not named any suspects behind the incident so far."
As we previously wrote in a backgrounder here, in 2006, a Transnistrian double referendum was held gauging popular support for the separatist state's appetite to either renounce its independence and join the Republic Of Moldova or to maintain it and seek to join the Russian Federation. The referendum to become part of Moldova was rejected by 96% of voters while 98% approved of becoming part of Russia.
