Explosions in Moldova breakaway region raise concerns of widening war

Explosions rocked the small, Russian-aligned breakaway region of Moldova known as Transnistria Tuesday, raising concerns that a new front could open in the war in Ukraine.

Two explosions Tuesday morning took out a pair of powerful radio antennas along the Ukrainian border, Transnistrian police said. The incident follows reports of several explosions on Monday at the break-away region’s Ministry of State.

Transnistria, a Kremlin-friendly strip of land in eastern Moldova, sits along Ukraine’s southwestern border, and hosts some 1,500 Russian troops on a nominal peace-keeping mission.

The breakaway region is within 40 miles from Odessa.

Monday’s attack, in which the Ministry of State was reportedly hit by rocket-propelled grenades, took place during a public holiday for Orthodox Easter, when most workers would have been home.

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that the attack was an attempt to “create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region, which is not controlled by the constitutional authorities.”

Tuesday’s explosions damaged broadcast towers for Russian radio shows.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, president of the break-away region, called Tuesday for anti-terrorist security measures, including checkpoints at the entrance to Transnistrian cities.

US officials have warned throughout the war that Russia could launch false-flag attacks in an attempt to create pretexts to deploy more troops and widen the fighting.

With Post wires