The Ukrainian government is planning to deploy S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems close to the borders with Transdniestria (Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika), a breakaway region of Moldova.
According to the Odessa-based Taimer newspaper, Ukrainian Defence Ministry officials said that the S-300 antiaircraft missile systems will be deployed close to Bolhrad, in the region of Odessa.
The systems will be deployed in order to “ensure the defence of the country in the south of the Odessa region on the border with the Dniester Republic”, the newspaper said.
Transdniestria is a Slavic-populated, breakaway region of Moldova, with limited international recognition. It declared its independence from Moldova on 2 September 1990. As the Soviet Union began to collapse that year, pro-Russian separatists in Transdniestria, fearing that Moldova would be unified with neighboring Romania, declared independence and established the Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika.
After five months of fighting, the paramilitary forces of Transdniestria, supported by elements of the Russian 14th Army, managed to gain control of nearly all of the land east of the river Dniester up to the Moldovan/Ukraine border. The separatists then established the breakaway Republic of Transdniestria, which is recognized only by three UN non-members: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.
There are roughly 2,500 Russian troops stationed in Transdniestria, who guard huge Soviet-era weapon and ammunition stockpiles, and uphold the ceasefire between the two sides.
Last March Russian troops participated in an exercise with the armed forces of the breakaway republic. The scenario of the exercise included countering a terrorist attack against the breakaway republic. A second exercise was conducted few days ago with the participation of many Russian troops, including reconnaissance troops. The Russian forces practiced countering attack aircraft and lightly armoured vehicles.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence,
“Motorized rifle units of the Operational Group of Russian Forces in the Transdniestrian Region of the Moldova Republic began special training exercises. Within the scope of the exercise, personnel will perfect tactical techniques for thwarting attacks from low-flying Su-25 attack aircraft and Mi-24-type attack helicopters,”
At the beginning of March, Transdniestria’s secessionist government in Tiraspol appealed to Russia’s legislative assembly to grant it admission into the Russian Federation, although Transdniestria shares no borders with Russia.