Air-defense weapons put on alert in Transnistria

President of Transnistria Yevgeny Shevchuk has charged the defense minister of the republic to put the air-defense forces on alert.

The reason was the unsanctioned flights of a Romanian Diamond DA-42 Twin Star aircraft over the territory of Transnistria on April 4-27, according to novostipmr.com.  “In the light of the continuous violations of Transnistria’s air space by an aircraft of a foreign state, the air defense units of the Transnistrian Armed Forces have been put on alert and emplaced to prevent unsanctioned flights,” the source reports.

The president convened an emergency meeting with Oleg Belyakov, the co-chair of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), who informed that the flights were launched at the initiative of Chisinau from the Romanian town of Iasi, and aerial photography of Transnistria’s territory, including the military facilities, was taken.

“The aircraft made low altitude flights over the town of Rybnitsa, Dubossary, Grigoriopol, and Slobodzeya region. We suppose that the given aerial survey in the security zone had a dual-purpose: civilian and military,” Belyakov said.

Transnistria initiated an emergency meeting of the JCC over the issue.

“The flights of the given aircrafts and aerial mapping of our territory can be considered as unfriendly actions towards Transnistria. All these issues should be discussed at relevant formats of the negotiation process,” the Transnistrian co-chair said during the talks. 

The meeting focused on the concentration of additional forces on the border with Transnistria by Ukraine and relocation of the U.S.-made F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighter jets to Romania.

“Transnistria is taking all possible measures to maintain stability in the zone of its responsibility. Generally, all the peacekeeping forces operate consistently to ensure peace and security on our land,” Oleg Belyakov said.

The air defense forces of Transnistria are on alert, with radar surveillance of the air space being organized. Additional visual surveillance posts have been set up too.

As EADaily reported earlier, the Foreign Ministry of Transnistria sent a note to Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Marius Lazurca following reports of “a Romanian aircraft having violated the air space of Transnistria.”

The Transnistrian Foreign Ministry noted that such unfriendly actions “cause higher tension between Transnistria and Romania and undermine the international efforts to maintain stability in the region.”