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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Ukrainian Military is Going to Transnistria

3 November, 1998 - 00:00


Ukraine is sending its observers to Transnistria. Kyiv braved such
a decision after a meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania
held last week, where Kuchma stated that the Russian Army should be stationed
in Russia. This statement, which took Moscow by surprise, concerned the
future of the Russian troops deployed in Transnistria.

Although Ukraine announced earlier that it would send a company or battalion
of its blue helmets to the until recently hot spot of Moldova-Transnistria
confrontation, now everything looks somewhat more modest. On October 23,
the government passed a resolution which provides for only 10 military
observers. The Defense Ministry says that the officers have the necessary
experience and had some training in Canada, Austria, and Germany.

Currently, there are around 2,588 soldiers of so-called Russian troops'
Operational Group. Moscow was supposed to pull them out by the end of 1997
but is taking its time. This makes both the OSCE and Moldova unhappy. And
now for the first time, Kyiv has also voiced its dissatisfaction. This
is not only because there is already too much of Russia around Ukraine.
"Ukraine wants to earn a little bit money on transport of the arsenals,
which our troops guard in Transnistria, through its territory, and thus
is insisting that they should withdraw" is one version that immediately
appeared in the Russian mass media. Military property in Transnistria is
quite impressive: in addition of munitions, there are 50,000 firearms,
800 artillery systems, 120 tanks, and other equipment. As estimated, Russians
will need almost 3,000 railway cars to transport their share of the property
after dividing it with Moldova. Of course, Ukraine will benefit from this.
However, instead of sharing the property, Moscow is now selling its arsenals
on the sly. It has even been reported that Russia made a contract with
Syria to supply missile complexes from Tiraspol depots. Weapons are being
dispersed uncontrollably. The longer Russians stay with the arsenals in
Transnistria, the longer there will be a black market next to the Ukrainian
border, which certainly cannot but disturb Kyiv. Against this backdrop,
demands by Kyiv that the Russian troops should be pulled out seen to be
quiet logical. And the competence of the observers, whom Kyiv is sending
to Transnistria, includes, inter alia, supervising the future of
this military property.

 

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