Ukrainian Military is Going to 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.