Brief History of the Conflict

The separatist opposition was constituted by the local network of Transnistrian Party and state institutions, and, in particular, by the raion executive committees and the industrial activity coordination committees. They started organizing in the summer of 1989, not long after the foundation of the Popular Front in Chisinau. In August 1989 the workers from the Transnistrian factories initiates strikes protesting against the legislative projects concerning the language.

Monumentul lui V.I.Lenin, or. Tiraspol

The parliamentary vote that established the Moldavian language as the official language of the state in 1989 was the trigger for the next events. In response to this vote, the local councils of Tiraspol and other cities voted against the rules passed by the Center and proclaimed that the rules concerning the language will not be considered valid on the Eastern bank of the Nistru River. The tensions grew in the weeks after the vote and the number of conflicts and encounters between the Moldovan police and the armed “defense units” rose considerably.

The leader of the opposition, Igor Smirnov, was excluded from the Communist Party in April 1990. Smirnov left Ukraine for Moldova in 1987 to run the mechanical corporation Electromas from Tiraspol. He was able to take advantage of the dissatisfaction with the cultural reforms made by the Popular Front in August 1989 and was elected the President of United Council of Workers League (UCWL).

This organization coordinated the strikes and the demonstrations in the industrial sector. As the Transnistrian region considered all Popular Front’s actions as a clear intention of Moldova to quit the Soviet Union, they continued to prepare the secessions. In January 1990, the UCWL organized a referendum regarding Transnistria’s autonomy. The referendum indicated that 96% of the electors opted for the self-governing status of Transnistria within the SSRM and if necessary, in the future, for the creation of a separate Transnistrian Republic.

On June 23 1990, the Republic of Moldova proclaimed its sovereignty and changed its status as a republic within the Soviet Union. This event created a chain reaction in Moldova. On the 2nd of September 1990 a congress of local authorities from the Eastern bank of Nistru declared the separation of the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic; this move was immediately condemned by Chisinau. Two months later, a new legislative body was created in Transnistria. Both governments were still parts of the Soviet Federation, but the Transnistrian representatives claimed that they are not a constituent part of Moldova anymore.

Beginning with 1990 the Central Government was not able to control the situation. The crucial moment was the coup d’etat in Moscow in 1991. The officials of the Communist Party in Chisinau were against the Kremlin complotters from the early beginning, but the local Political Bureau ceased all the connections with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Several days after the putsch, on August 27 1991, the Parliament declared Moldova an independent Republic and officially took control of the Soviet and Communist Party patrimony on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

The reaction to the coup d’etat was completely opposite in Transnistria. Igor Smirnov praised in public the organizers of the putsch, labeled them the rescuers of the Soviet State and promised, if necessary, to provide military help. The Transnistrian workers armed themselves, getting their weapons from the local Soviet Army inventory.

They proceeded, taking over the police stations and the governmental institutions on the left bank of Nistru. In the same time, the police units, which were still loyal to the central Government blocked the bridges and started changing fires with the insurgents from the Eastern bank. By 1991 the biggest part of the Eastern side went beyond Chisinau’s control.

The secessionist armies were created from the inventory of the Soviet 14th Army, often with its deliberate participation. The consolidation of the separatist armies and paramilitary forces was accomplished thanks to the assistance provided by Russian military experts, including common maneuvers with the Russian army units and due to the capacity of Transnistria to produce weapons.

Beginning with September 1991, Russian officers controlled the process of the creation of the National Guard, setting up units for the self-defense of the workers and training soldiers. From November 1991, the officers of the 14th Army provided Transnistria with weapons, ammunition and communication technology. This was officially acknowledged by the Chief of the Army, general-lieutenant Iakovlev. In March – April 1992 the separatists started to receive armored equipment.

From spring 1992 the 14th Army was preparing for armed actions and the Russian Minister of Defense, Grachiov, instructed general Netcachiov in the following way: “Because of the worsening of the situation in Transnistria and starting with the fact that Transnistria is a Russian land, we have to defend it by all possible means. We have to complete the units of the 14th Army with reservists and bring it in the battle state.” The Russian secessionists have also been fully supported by the Cossack units from the Russian Federation, by the political parties and by the Russian local and central executive structures.

The Cossacks and other similar categories of fighters for the independence of the phantom republic were recruited by the Officers Union from Sankt Petersburg, by the National Republican Party, by movements such as Otecestvo, Soiuz Vozrojdenia, the Union of the Cossacks from Don, but also by other structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense. On February 27, 1992 there were about 2 000 Cossacks in Tiraspol, among which 500 were from Rostov-on-Don, Kuban, Altai; the others represented Cossack circles from Dubasari, Grigoriopol and Slobozia, units created in a big hurry. In the battalion Dnestr were registered more than a thousand volunteers from Russia.

In spring and summer of 1992 there was an escalation of tensions. More than one hundred people were killed during the fights along the Nistru River. The bridges over Nistru were mined or destroyed by the Transnistrian side, which had extended its military operations to the West of Nistru. The fights went on until June, ending with the battles from Bender. The escalation of violence and the active involvement of the Russian Federation lead however to a formal Cease Fire Agreement and to the placement of mixed peacekeeping forces along the Nistru River.

Shortly after the battles in Bender, the Presidents Eltsin and Snegur met in Moscow and signed an Agreement to cease all violence and create a security zone along the river that included a triple peacekeeping force composed of 6 Russian battalions of paramilitary troops (under the separate commandment of the 14th Army) and 3 battalions each from Moldova and Transnistria. The agreement also made possible starting the negotiations for the resolution of the conflict.