Ukrainian defense officials said on Friday that Russia was using an ammunition depot in the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova to transport weapons to its borders. Transnistria, which borders the Odessa region in Ukraine, has become a new focal point in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war, as it looks forward not only to occupy eastern and southern Ukraine, but has threatened to come to Moldova as well. . A Russian soldier attends a rehearsal for Victory Day military parade scheduled for May 9 in St. Petersburg, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (AP Photo / Dmitri Lovetsky) NATO PREPARES FOR MASS MILITARY EXERCISES AS RUSSIA CONTINUES INVASION IN UKRAINE “Thirty years ago, the Russian Federation occupied the territory of Transnistria. Every year, mobilization exercises are held with a special group of Russian troops stationed in this area,” said Vadym Skibitsky, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense’s Main Intelligence Directorate. Friday statement. Skimitsky said Russian troops were training with local separatist forces in defense and counterattack operations using ammunition stored in a warehouse in the village of Kolbasna, which shares a border with Ukraine’s Odessa region. “Part of the ammunition is used for combat training, part – according to military information – for smuggling,” Skibitsky said. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry warned on Friday that Russia’s recent actions show that it is trying to use Transnistria as a “springboard for aggression” to attack Ukraine from another direction and possibly hit Moldova.
A Ukrainian soldier on duty in Odessa, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022. (Maksym Voitenko / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) UKRAINE WARNS RUSSIA-SUPPORTED FORCES IN MOLDOVA STRENGTHEN RECRUITMENTS The ministry said earlier this week that Russian-backed separatist forces in Transnistria were recruiting men for their ranks – a move that preceded two alleged “terrorist attacks” in the region this week. Ukrainians and some Moldovan officials have accused Moscow of being behind the attacks to provide a pretext for the deployment of Russian forces under the guise of a “peacekeeping” mission – a similar tactic adopted by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has maintained a “peaceful” power in the Transnistrian region since a peace agreement was signed in 1992 between the Moldovan government and regional officials. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken hosts a bilateral meeting with Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu at the State Department in Washington on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds / Pool via AP) CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION “We are monitoring the situation in Transnistria,” Skimitsky said on Friday, noting that there was now a “serious fight” between Moldovan officials and “Russian special services”. “The terrorist acts committed on the territory of Transnistria were aimed at forcing the Transnistrian leadership to agree to expand the presence of Russian troops,” he added. “The main goal is to keep the region completely under the control of Moscow, as it has been trying for 30 years.”