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Transnistria rebels say drones seen, shots fired near Russia arms depot

Transnistria

Transnistria rebels say drones seen, shots fired near Russia arms depot

The interior ministry of Transnistria, a Moscow-sponsored separatist location of Moldova bordering Ukraine, stated Wednesday that shots had been fired at a village housing a Russian hands depot after drones flew over from Ukraine.

This came after the unrecognized place said a sequence of explosions that it referred to as “terrorist assaults”, elevating fears of a spillover from the struggle in Ukraine.

“Last night, several drones were noticed in the sky over the village of Kolbasna,” the Transnistrian interior ministry said on its website.

“The drones were launched onto the territory of Transnistria from Ukraine,” it said.

Kolbasna, known as Cobasna in Romanian, is located around 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

It houses a stockpile of some 20,000 tonnes of munitions that date back to the Soviet era, guarded by Russian troops.

The interior ministry said that it is believed to be the largest ammunition depot in Europe.

“On the morning of April 27 at 8:45 am (0545 GMT) shots were fired from the Ukrainian side towards Kolbasna,” the Transnistrian ministry added, saying that there were no reported injuries.

The region has reported explosions on Monday and Tuesday hitting the security ministry, a military unit and a Russian-owned radio tower.

This prompted Moldova to urge its citizens to keep calm and step up security measures.

Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said Transnistria had announced men of fighting age would be prevented “from leaving the region so this is a sign we are not yet out of the potential danger zone”.

“Our primary duty is to maintain peace in Moldova. Moldova should not be drawn in any type of military scenario in this region.

“We remain very alert. We are not in a position to predict how things will evolve. We will do everything to keep Moldova out of any military escalation on this regional scale,” he said in a statement.