During the meeting of the JCC, the Pridnestrovian delegation issued a statement "On Unauthorized Movements of Military Equipment in the Republic of Moldova in the Security Zone as Part of the Provision of Military Exercises." Photographic materials are attached to the application, confirming Security Zone denormalization.
The text of the document is given in full:
“With regular intervals over the past few years, the Moldovan delegation to the JCC has accused the Pridnestrovian military units of various departmental subordination and the OGRF unit in Pridnestrovie that they allow the movement of military equipment along highways in the Security Zone.
As a rule, this concerned the military department of Pridnestrovie conducting combat training exercises that took place outside the Security Zone, as well as measures to ensure the OGRF units in Pridnestrovie guarding the ammunition depots in the Kolbasna village, as well as the planned rotation of the MC PF of the Russian Federation at the joint peacekeeping force posts in the Security Zone.
It should be noted that all these accusations are rarely a simple statement of their opinion, and most often they are politicized as much as possible and are accompanied by very negative assessments of the actions of the Pridnestrovian side as a whole, as well as the level of effectiveness of the peacekeeping operation.
The attention should be paid to the fact that usually the stormy indignation of the Moldavian delegation is caused by events held in the administrative borders of Tiraspol, located outside the Security Zone, in which 3-4 dozens of Pridnestrovian military personnel take part. An equally strong reaction is demonstrated on the passage of several units of OGRF vehicles in Pridnestrovie, which periodically follow to the object of increased danger guarded by the OGRF unit in the village of Kolbasna and otherwise through the Security Zone cannot proceed to it. The fact that the equipment belongs to the guarantor country, which is not a party to the conflict, stopped the war on the banks of the Dniester and has maintained peace in the region for 27 years, does not stop Moldovan colleagues. Moreover, in such cases, they unilaterally “invite to the place of violation” the representatives of the OSCE Mission to the JCC with the aim of documenting such outstanding threats to peace and security by international observers.
Meanwhile, for many years, the Moldavian side has been conducting large-scale military exercises with the participation of foreign military contingents in the Bulboaka military training ground, which is located near the Security Zone, which have nothing to do with the ongoing peacekeeping operation.
Sometimes the tasks of such exercises are performed with entry into the Security Zone. Moreover, the road transport system on its territory is often used by the Moldavian side to deliver personnel of military units and military equipment to the training ground. As a rule, armored vehicles take part in military exercises, large-caliber weapons are fired, including powerful artillery systems, military operations are practiced, suppression of protests by the population is simulated, etc.
The Pridnestrovian delegation to the JCC recalls that in the recent past, the Moldovan side has conducted military exercises with the delivery of personnel and military equipment to the place of employment through the Security Zone. This continues today. Here are just some of them:
- One of the stages of the joint military exercises of the Republic of Moldova National Army and the National Guard of North Carolina “Travel Contact Team - 2015” was held on March 26, 2015 within the central section of the Security Zone in the area of the road intersection in square 1262, while armored vehicles with weapons installed on it were involved.
- Military exercises "Scutul de Foc - 2016", which took place on September 12-24, 2016 at the National Army training ground in Bulboaka. They were attended by servicemen from Moldova, the USA and Romania. Artillery firing was conducted from closed positions using mixed batteries. Practical driving of combat vehicles (armored vehicles) was carried out. Moldova was represented by 233 military personnel of the Republic of Moldova, 30 US troops and 30 Romanian soldiers.
- Joint Moldovan-Romanian military exercises “Fire Shield - 2017” (September 2017) at the training ground of the National Army in Bulboaka. The main tasks of the five-day exercises were to improve the artillery skills of the units of the two armies, and to increase the level of interaction in carrying out general operations. The exercises involved more than 300 officers and soldiers of artillery units of the Republic of Moldova and 20 Romanian military personnel.
- In March 2018, at the military training ground in Bulboaka, there were held the exercises of the motorized infantry brigade named after Stefan cel Mare. It involved 70 contract soldiers. Maneuvers were held in order to assess the level of combat readiness of soldiers in the framework of the combat training plan for 2018.
- From September 19 to 21, 2018, in the territory of the Bulboaka Training Center, firing from large-caliber weapons was carried out by personnel of the Training Center of the National Army of the Republic of Moldova. Large-caliber armored vehicles and artillery systems were transported to and from training sites through the Security Zone. Namely, on September 21, 2018, the equipment of the National Army of the Republic of Moldova that was not related to joint peacekeeping forces was transported, including military vehicles and armored vehicles entered the Security Zone from the Bulboaka training ground through the road intersection in 1262 square and moved along the Security Zone along the M-14.
- At the end of September 2018, the International Fire Shield-2018 exercise was held on the territory of the Bulboaka Training Center, which was conducted to train the military partner countries. About 800 military personnel of the Republic of Moldova participated in the exercises, as well as military personnel from Romania and the USA. Armored vehicles and large-caliber artillery systems involved in the Fire Shield exercise were transported through the Security Zone.
- In the same place, from July 29 to July 31, 2019, in accordance with the National Army combat training plan for the current year, the Sturm-2019 combat tactical exercises were held, in which more than 250 soldiers from the special Fulger battalion, as well as soldiers of the Codru battalion and Training Center of the National Army of Moldova.
- On the territory of the Training Center of the Republic of Moldova near Bulboaka, from September 10 to 12, 2019, firing from large-caliber weapons was carried out, while the involved personnel of the Moldovan units were brought to the place of firing through the Security Zone.
- In the period from September 16 to 20, 2019 at the Bulboaka training ground, the international military exercises "Fire shield - 2019" with the participation of more than a thousand military personnel from Moldova, Romania and the United States were held. When firing as part of these exercises, 152-mm howitzers D-20, 122-mm howitzers D-30, MT-12 Rapira, self-propelled artillery and mortar launchers NONA-S, 80- and 120-mm mortars were used, 57-mm charger S-60. Firing was carried out from a distance of five and nine kilometers to the target. On the part of the Republic of Moldova, representatives of the State Guard Service, the Information and Security Service and the Fulger Special Purpose Army Battalion took part in the exercises. Parachute jumps were carried out, tasks were fulfilled: seizing buildings in the conditions of urban development by infantry units under cover of armored personnel carriers and Hammer vehicles with machine guns mounted on them. Personnel and equipment proceeded to the training site through the Security Zone, as evidenced by the corresponding photographs and a map of the area.
Recall that the Fire Shield exercises are the largest annual military exercises in Moldova led by NATO.
Against this background, the accusations of the Moldovan delegation to the JCC against the Pridnestrovian side "about violations of the Security Zone regime" look, to put it mildly, strange. It is also perplexing for what reason the Moldovan colleagues do not inform the representatives of the OSCE Mission in the JCC about the movement of their military units and military equipment through the Security Zone. Or do they? But photo reports to the JCC from the OSCE representatives have never been received.
It is not surprising that nothing at all prevents our Moldovan colleagues from demonstrating extreme concern about the alleged violation by the Pridnestrovian regime of the Security Zone, declaring Pridnestrovie “destruction” of the peacekeeping operation and preparation of the Pridnestrovian army to force the Dniester River to the right bank.
We urge the JCC participants to refrain from the practice of escalating the situation in the Security Zone and focus on fulfilling the requirements of the 1992 Agreement on maintaining peace on the banks of the Dniester and creating conditions for a quiet life of the population in the region.”
