The Transnistrian conflict is a confrontation that began between Moldova and Transnistria, which is an unrecognized state entity on its territory. Under the control of this independent republic is the entire left bank of the Dniester, where ethnic Russians and Ukrainians live.
The Transnistrian conflict arose as far back as 1989, and already in 1992 a military confrontation began, which, of course, led to numerous casualties on both sides.
Let's go back to the distant 1988. In Moldova, more and more calls are heard to unite with Romania. At the next session of the Moldovan Supreme Council, a law was passed according to which the Latin script was supposed to function in the republic, infringing on the rights of all residents of non-Moldavian nationality.
Chisinau’s policy provoked protests, mainly in two regions: in the south of Moldova, where the Gagauzians live, and in Transnistria. It is here that at many enterprises, Soviets from labor collectives begin to be created , and then their united congress is convened.
It was on it that in 1990 the issue of creating an independent state called the Republic of Transnistria was decided.
This decision was justified by the fact that in 1940, when the Moldavian SSR was created, an autonomous republic that was part of Ukraine already existed on the territory of present-day Transnistria.
However, official Chisinau overturned the decision of the congress.
In fact, the Transnistrian conflict began in the fall of 1990, when the Moldovan riot police tried to liquidate all self-government bodies in the unrecognized republic.
The war in Transnistria passed into its most active phase in March-July 1992, when the conflicting parties switched to real fighting. In the Bendery and Dubossary regions, a full-scale war began, in which tanks and artillery participated. It was after this that the confrontation was called conflict.
Now this strip of land is on the left bank of the Dniester, where in 1992 it was so hot - the unrecognized Transnistrian republic.
And only the intervention of Russia could stop further bloodshed. The fourteenth Russian army, commanded by the legendary General Lebed, took the position of "armed neutrality", which put an end to the process of further escalation.
Like any military action, the Transnistrian conflict also caused death: in 1992, about three hundred military personnel and almost six hundred civilians died.
The Transnistrian issue is especially relevant for the Russian side, because the people of this unrecognized entity have clearly defined themselves in the direction of close alliance with it, as expressed by the plebiscites. At the same time, the republic is unambiguously positive about maintaining and even strengthening the Russian military presence on its territory.
Among the reasons that gave rise to the Transnistrian conflict, there are historical, and economic, and ideological, and ethnopolitical, while the positions of none of the warring parties are unambiguous.
Today there are peacekeeping forces of Transnistria, Moldova and Russia, as well as Ukrainian military observers. However, even after repeated negotiations, during which the OSCE, as well as Russia and Ukraine were present as mediators, it was not possible to reach a final agreement on the status of unrecognized Transnistria.
Relations between the warring parties to this day remain tense, and even having passed the stage of unarmed, peaceful settlement, this conflict, along with the Karabakh conflict, is one of the most complicated in the territory of the post-Soviet space .