Moscow, June, 19. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The press service of the Pridnestrovian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that today the events for the 27th anniversary of the Bendery tragedy had taken place in the capital of the Russian Federation. Representatives of the Pridnestrovian delegation - Pridnestrovian Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev, head of the Pridnestrovian Official Representative Office in Russia Leonid Manakov - and Pridnestrovian compatriots laid flowers at the grave of Alexander Lebed at the Novo-Dyevitchiye cemetery in Moscow.
Addressing the audience, Vitaly Ignatiev stressed that for every Pridnestrovian, the name of Alexander Lebed was particularly important. According to the diplomat, it was in his service for the benefit of Russia, for the sake of peace and security, that the role of the individual in critical periods of history clearly manifested itself.
“Thanks to the decisions and actions, and the responsibility that Alexander Lebed assumed, the military aggression of Moldova against Pridnestrovie was stopped. He was among the first who called this aggression genocide. Thanks to him, peace, stability and security on the Dniester have been preserved for more than 27 years,” the diplomat said.
In 1992, Lieutenant General Alexander Lebed arrived in Pridnestrovie at the height of the hostilities in Bendery. June 27, he took command of the 14th Army. During the press conference, he accused the Moldovan authorities of “genocide against their own people,” which must be stopped.
“The army will remain neutral, but the quality of this neutrality will change. It will be armed neutrality,” General Lebed said.
General Lebed called on both sides to stop the bloodshed. However, the concentration of the Moldovan armed forces under Bendery clearly testified to the predominance of “hawks” over “pigeons” in the Moldovan leadership. Then, large-caliber artillery of the 14th Army hit the places where the forces of the Republic of Moldova accumulated. After this event, Chisinau abandoned offensive operations in the Bendery region.
With the active assistance of General Lebed, on July 7, 1992, ceasefire negotiations began. They continued until the end of July, up to the introduction of the peacekeeping forces of Russia in the territory of Pridnestrovie.
In 2012, a monument was erected at the Bendery Grief Memorial to General Lebed. In Tiraspol, there are 2 plaques in memory of Lieutenant-General of the Russian army. The Military Institute of the PMR Ministry of Defense is named after him.
