View source for Transnistria War

{{Short description|1990–1992 separatist conflict in Moldova}}
<noinclude>{{Requested move notice|1=War in Transnistria|2=Talk:Transnistria War#Requested move 16 May 2025}}
</noinclude>{{Multiple issues|
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{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2025}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image             = Bender 1992.jpg
| caption           = Separatist forces during the [[Battle of Bender (1992)|Battle of Bender]]
| partof            = the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] and the [[Transnistria conflict]]
| date              = 2 November 1990 – 21 July 1992<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|day1=2|month1=11|year1=1990|day2=21|month2=07|year2=1992}}){{-}}'''Main phase:''' 2 March – 21 July 1992{{-}}({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|day1=2|month1=3|year1=1992|day2=21|month2=07|year2=1992}})
| place             = [[Transnistria]], [[Moldova]]
| result            = Russian–Transnistrian victory
* Transnistria is a ''[[de facto]]'' independent state, but remains internationally recognized as part of Moldova
| combatant1        = {{flagicon image|Flag of Moldavian SSR (1990) (Soviet colors).png}}/{{flag|Moldova}}{{Efn|[[Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova]] until 23 May 1991. [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Constituent republic]] of the [[Soviet Union]] until 27 August 1991.}}{{-}}'''Supported by:'''{{-}}{{ROM}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|
*{{flag|Transnistria|state}}
*{{flag|Russia|1991}}<ref name=Pedraja>{{cite book|title=The Russian Military Resurgence: Post-Soviet Decline and Rebuilding, 1992–2018|first=René|last=De La Pedraja|date=2018 |pages=93–94 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=9781476634494|quote=This response was too much for the commander of the 14th Army General Yuri Netkachev, who ordered Russian troops to drive out the Moldovan forces. The 14th Army had always supported the separatists since the very beginning, but this direct support was the first open participation in combat. ... The participation of the 14th Army was indispensable for the victory of the separatists, ... Moldovan forces were concentrated in a forest near Bender, and Lebed decided to stop their advance by relying on his powerful artillery. At 0300 on 3 July massive barrages rained down on the unsuspecting Moldovans ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/files/deWaal_UncertainGround_final.pdf|title=Uncertain Ground: Engaging with Europe's De Facto States and Breakaway Territories|first=Thomas|last=de Waal |author-link=Thomas de Waal|date=2018 |page=39 |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] |quote=Neither side had a proper military force. The intervention of the Russian Fourteenth Army and its commander General Alexander Lebed on behalf of the Transdniestrians was decisive.}}</ref>
*'''Supported by:'''
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Ukraine (1991–1992).svg}} [[Ukraine]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuw1kNq11YkC&pg=PA221 |title=Moldova: Arena of International Influences |date= 8 May 2012|isbn=9780739173923 |accessdate=2022-09-04|last1=Kosienkowski |first1=Marcin |last2=Schreiber |first2=William |publisher=Lexington }}</ref>
}}
| units1            = 
*{{flagicon|Moldova}} [[Military of Moldova|Armed Forces]]
*{{flagicon|Moldova}} [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Moldova)|Ministry of Internal Affairs]]
**[[General Police Inspectorate|Police]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1990).svg}} [[Popular Front of Moldova]]
**{{flagicon|Moldova}} Pro-Moldovan Transnistrian volunteers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artofwar.ru/i/iwan_d/text_0250.shtml|script-title=ru:Кампания в Тигине|trans-title=Campaign in Tigine|first=Anatole|last=Munteanu|website=artofwar.ru|date=10 July 2009|language=ru|access-date=21 August 2022|archive-date=27 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827232643/http://artofwar.ru/i/iwan_d/text_0250.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{nowrap|{{flagdeco|Romania}} Romanian volunteers<ref name=humphries/><ref name=rupesinghe>[[Kumar Rupesinghe]] and Valery A. Tishkov (1996), [http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu12ee/uu12ee0b.htm#7%20large%20scale%20inter%20ethnic%20violence "Ethnicity and power in the contemporary world" Chapter 5, "Dynamics of the Moldova Trans-Dniester ethnic conflict (late 1980s to early 1990s)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310231622/http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu12ee/uu12ee0b.htm#7%20large%20scale%20inter%20ethnic%20violence |date=10 March 2009 }}, United Nations University Press</ref><br>and military advisors<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timpul.md/articol/mircea-snegur-ne-am-achitat-cu-romania-cu-un-mig-29-27872.html|title = Mircea Snegur: 'Ne-am achitat cu România cu un MiG 29'| date=14 October 2011 }}</ref>}}
| units2            = {{flagicon|Transnistria}} [[Armed Forces of Transnistria|Armed Forces]]
* Republican Guard
{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} [[Ministry of Internal Affairs of Transnistria|Ministry of Interior]]
* ''[[Law enforcement in Transnistria|Militsiya]]''
{{flagicon|Russia|1991}} [[Russian Armed Forces]]
* [[14th Guards Army]] (elements)<ref name=humphries>Richard Humphries. [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2001/10/08/travel/transnistria-relic-of-a-bygone-era-2/ "Transnistria: relic of a bygone era"], ''The Japan Times'', 8 October 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ceps01.link.be/Article.php?article_id=222 |title=Borderland Europe: Transforming Transnistria? |access-date=6 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325194808/http://ceps01.link.be/Article.php?article_id=222 |archive-date=25 March 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/russia/#P169_26952|title=RUSSIA|website=www.hrw.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2021/01/22/birn-fact-check-what-must-be-done-for-russian-forces-to-leave-transnistria|title=BIRN fact-check: what must be done for Russian forces to leave Transnistria?|first=Mădălin|last=Necșuțu|newspaper=[[Balkan Insight]]|date=22 January 2021}}</ref>
{{flagdeco|Russia|1991}} [[Russia]]n volunteers
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Don Cossacks.svg|20px}} [[Don Cossacks]]<ref>Hughes, James and Sasse, Gwendolyn: ''Ethnicity and territory in the former Soviet Union: regions in conflict.'' Taylor & 
Francis, 2002, page 107. {{ISBN|0-7146-8210-1}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Kuban People's Republic.svg|20px}} {{ill|Kuban Cossack Military Society|lt=Kuban CMS|ru|Кубанское войсковое казачье общество}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radiopmr.org/news/6416/3/6-aprelya-kazaki-v-Krasnodare-proveli-pominovenie-pogibshix-vo-vremya-voennogo-konflikta-v-Pridnestrove-FOTO/?sphrase_id=3465|script-title=ru:6 апреля казаки в Краснодаре провели поминовение погибших во время военного конфликта в Приднестровье (ФОТО)|trans-title=On 6 April, Cossacks in Krasnodar held a commemoration for those killed during the military conflict in Transnistria (PHOTO)|first=Ludmila|last=Voskresenskaya|publisher=Radio Pridnestrovie|date=6 April 2014|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200325/http://www.radiopmr.org/news/6416/3/6-aprelya-kazaki-v-Krasnodare-proveli-pominovenie-pogibshix-vo-vremya-voennogo-konflikta-v-Pridnestrove-FOTO/?sphrase_id=3465|archive-date=10 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Gerb okvskr.gif|20px}} [[Orenburg Cossacks]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olvia.idknet.com/ol09-07.html|script-title=ru:Участие казаков России в Приднестровском конфликте|trans-title=Participation of Russian Cossacks in the Transnistrian conflict|first=V.|last=Gladkovskaya|website=olvia.idknet.com|access-date=21 July 2022|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726203644/http://www.olvia.idknet.com/ol09-07.html|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
* {{flagicon image|Флаг Союза казаков.jpg|20px}} [[Union of Cossacks]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Russian National Unity.svg|20px}} [[Russian National Unity|RNU]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vrdmDwAAQBAJ&q=%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B5+%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C%D0%B5&pg=PP12|script-title=ru:Приднестровье и Молдова. Можно ли уйти из СССР?|language=ru|first=Roman|last=Konoplyov|date=2 February 2014|publisher=[[Roman Konoplev]]|via=Google Books}}</ref>
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Gagauz people.svg}} [[Gagauz Republic|Gagauz]] volunteers<ref>{{cite news|url=http://moldnova.eu/ro/noi-trebuie-sa-ne-inchinam-rusilor-si-sa-uitam-de-romani-interviu-cu-primul-lider-al-gagauzilor-din-moldova-20505.html/|title='Noi trebuie să ne închinăm rușilor și să uităm de români'. Interviu cu primul lider al găgăuzilor din Moldova|language=ro|first=Ștefan|last=Bejan|newspaper=moldNova|date=21 August 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823095523/http://moldnova.eu/ro/noi-trebuie-sa-ne-inchinam-rusilor-si-sa-uitam-de-romani-interviu-cu-primul-lider-al-gagauzilor-din-moldova-20505.html/|archive-date=August 23, 2017}}</ref><hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of Ukraine (1991–1992).svg}}/{{flagicon image|Flag of Ukraine.svg}} [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] volunteers
* {{flagicon image|Flag of UNA-UNSO.svg}} [[UNA-UNSO]]<ref name="UNA-UNSO">Sabrina Ramet (1999), [https://books.google.com/books?id=QZr1vsDIvlUC&dq=Shukhevych%27s+son&pg=PA290 "The radical right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989"], [[Pennsylvania University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-271-01810-0}}, pp. 290 ff.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tkachuk |first=Maryna |date=2011-08-19 |title=uk:'Краще згинути вовком, нiж жити псом' |language=uk |trans-title=Better to die as a wolf than live as a dog |url=https://umoloda.kyiv.ua/number/1932/222/68726 |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=[[Ukraina Moloda]] }}</ref> (aimed to make Transnistria part of Ukraine)<ref name=UNAUNSO></ref>
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
*{{nowrap|{{flagdeco|Moldova}} '''[[Mircea Snegur]]'''}}
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Valeriu Muravschi]]
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Ion Costaș]]
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Pavel Creangă]]
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} {{ill|Tudor Dabija-Cazarov|ro}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kp.md/daily/24450/613852/ |script-title=ru:Павел Крянгэ: «За всю войну я не получил ни одного письменного приказа! |trans-title=Pavel Creangă: "During the entire war I did not receive a single written order!" |publisher=KP.Md |date= 3 March 2010|access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Constantin Antoci]]
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Nicolae Chirtoacă]]<ref name="justice1">{{Cite web | url=http://lex.justice.md/viewdoc.php?action=view&view=doc&id=304089&lang=2 | title=О мерах по реализации Указа Президента Республики Молдова от 14 ноября 1991 года "Об объявлении собственностью Республики Молдова вооружения, военной техники, другого военного имущества, принадлежащего воинским частям, дислоцированным на территории республики" | language=ru | trans-title=On measures to implement the Decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova of November 14, 1991 "On declaring the property of the Republic of Moldova weapons, military equipment, other military property belonging to military units stationed on the territory of the republic" | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112131856/http://lex.justice.md/viewdoc.php?action=view&view=doc&id=304089&lang=2 | archive-date=2017-11-12}}</ref>
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} [[Leonid Carasev]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.pmr.idknet.com/wiki/index.php/ | title=Категория:Книга Памяти | language=ru | trans-title=Category:Book of Memory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325001559/http://www.pmr.idknet.com/wiki/index.php/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F%3A%D0%9A%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%B8 |archive-date=25 March 2016 }}</ref><ref name="justice1"/>
*{{flagdeco|Moldova}} {{ill|Boris Muravschi|ro}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mk.ru/social/2012/08/07/734167-konflikt-glubokoy-zamorozki.html |script-title=ru:Конфликт глубокой заморозки |language=ru |trans-title=Deep freeze conflict |publisher=Mk.ru |date=August 2012 |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
*{{nowrap|{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} '''[[Igor Smirnov (politician)|Igor Smirnov]]'''}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} [[Andrey Manoylov]]
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Vladimir Rilyakov|ru|Рыляков, Владимир Маркович}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Ștefan Chițac|ro|Ștefan Chițac|ru|Кицак, Стефан Флорович}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Nikolay Lepkhov|ru|Лепихов, Николай Иванович}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Vladimir Atamaniuk|ru|Атаманюк, Владимир Иванович}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Fedor Dobrov|ru|Добров, Фёдор Андреевич}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://war.freemd.info/?id=escalation | title=История Войны | language=ru | trans-title=History of War| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072530/http://war.freemd.info/?id=escalation |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref>
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} {{ill|Yuri Grosul|ru|Гросул, Юрий Исаакович}}
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} [[Vladimir Antyufeyev]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zavtra.ru/content/view/pridnestrove-bez-shevtsova/ |title=Приднестровье без Шевцова |publisher=Zavtra.ru |date= |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>
*{{flagdeco|Transnistria}} [[Tom Zenovich]]
*{{flagdeco|Russia|1991}} '''[[Boris Yeltsin]]'''
*{{flagicon|Russia|1991}} [[Alexander Lebed]]<ref>{{cite web|author=M. A. |url=http://www.ziuaveche.ro/international/externe/transnistria-monument-pentru-generalul-criminal-lebed-100332.html/ |title=Transnistria: Monument pentru generalul criminal Lebed |website=Ziua Veche |date=12 June 2012 |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Russia|1991}} [[Yuri Netkachev]]<ref name=Pedraja/>
----
*{{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Flag of Ukraine (1991–1992).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of UNA-UNSO.svg}} [[Dmytro Korchynsky]]<ref name=UNAUNSO>{{cite web |last1=Tarasiuk |first1=Taras |last2=Umland |first2=Andreas |date=29 September 2021 |url=https://www.illiberalism.org/unexpected-friendships-cooperation-of-ukrainian-ultra-nationalists-with-russian-and-pro-kremlin-actors/ |title=Unexpected Friendships: Cooperation of Ukrainian Ultra-Nationalists with Russian and Pro-Kremlin Actors |publisher=Illiberalism Studies Program |access-date=5 May 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818183721/https://www.illiberalism.org/unexpected-friendships-cooperation-of-ukrainian-ultra-nationalists-with-russian-and-pro-kremlin-actors/|archive-date=August 18, 2023}}</ref>}}
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| casualties1       = {{plainlist|
*279–324 killed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monument.md/catalog/compozitii_monumentale/165/# |title=Monumentul eroilor căzuți în războiul transnistrean |language=ro |publisher=Monument.md |date=29 August 1998 |access-date=5 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722171756/http://www.monument.md/catalog/compozitii_monumentale/165/ |archive-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>''Accente'', Nr. 36, 14 March 2002</ref>
*1,180 wounded}}
| casualties2       = ((plainlist|
*364–913 killed
*624 wounded<ref>Dnestrovskaya Pravda, no. 84-85, page 2, 24 November 2001</ref><ref name="nr2.ru"/><ref>[http://www.olvia.idknet.com/ol166-12-06.htm Возрожденному в приднестровье черноморскому казачьему войску – 15 лет] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503235314/http://olvia.idknet.com/ol166-12-06.htm |date=3 May 2007 }} ''Olvia Press''. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.nr2.ru/pmr/96375.html "В Приднестровье отмечают 15-летие Черноморского казачьего войск"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222180400/http://www.nr2.ru/pmr/96375.html |date=22 February 2014 }} ''Новый Регион – Приднестровье'', 14 December 2006.</ref>}}
| casualties3       = 316–637 civilians killed in total<ref>{{Cite web | title=Moldova | via=Uppsala Universitet | publisher=UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia | url=http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=108&regionSelect=9-Eastern_Europe# | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404215315/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=108&regionSelect=9-Eastern_Europe |archive-date=2016-04-04 | access-date=2013-05-03}}</ref>
| conflict          = Transnistria War
| image_size        = 300px
}}

The '''Transnistria War''' ({{langx|ro|Războiul din Transnistria}}; {{langx|ru|Война в Приднестровье|translit=Voyna v Pridnestrovye}}) was an armed conflict that broke out on 2 November 1990 in [[Dubăsari]] between pro-[[Transnistria]] (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR) forces, including the Transnistrian Republican Guard, militia and neo-[[Cossack]] units, which were supported by elements of the Russian [[14th Guards Army|14th Army]], and pro-[[Moldova]]n forces, including Moldovan troops and police.

Fighting intensified on 1 March 1992 and, alternating with ''[[ad hoc]]'' ceasefires, lasted throughout the spring and early summer of 1992 until a ceasefire was declared on 21 July 1992, which has held. The conflict is sometimes known as the '''Moldovan-Russian war''' ({{langx|ro|Războiul moldo-rus}}) in Moldova and Romania.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://moldova.europalibera.org/a/oazu-nantoi-conflictul-nu-este-intern-pacificatorii-ru%C8%99i-au-menirea-de-a-nu-admite-rezolvarea-acestui-conflict-/30462562.html|title=Oazu Nantoi: "Conflictul nu este intern. Pacificatorii ruși au menirea de a nu admite rezolvarea acestui conflict"|first=Valentina|last=Ursu|newspaper=Radio Europa Liberă Moldova|date=1 March 2020|language=ro}}</ref>

==Background==
{{Further|Timeline of the Transnistria War}}

===Historical background===
Before the [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina]] and the creation of the [[Moldavian SSR]] in 1940, the [[Bessarabia]]n part of [[Moldova]], i.e. the part situated to the west of the river [[Dniester]] (Nistru), was part of Romania (1918–1940). The [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] between the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]], which led to the events of 1940, was later denounced by present-day Moldova, which declared it "null and void" in its [[Declaration of Independence of Moldova|Declaration of Independence]] in 1991. However, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the territorial changes resulting from it have remained in place.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Before the creation of the [[Moldavian SSR]], today's Transnistria was part of the [[Ukrainian SSR]] as an autonomous republic called the [[Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]], with [[Tiraspol]] as its capital (1924–1940). It represents slightly more than one tenth of Moldova's territory.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
{{Campaignbox Post-Soviet Conflicts}}

===Political background===
Under Soviet rule, the Moldavian SSR became subject of policy of [[Russification#Bessarabia/Moldova|Russification]], including isolation from the Romanian cultural sphere and the imposition of the Cyrillic alphabet for the Romanian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osce.org/moldova/42308 |title=Transdniestrian conflict: origins and issues |publisher=[[OSCE]] |date=10 June 1994 |access-date=6 March 2022 }}</ref> During the last years of the 1980s, the political landscape of the [[Soviet Union]] was changing due to [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s policies of [[perestroika]] and [[glasnost]], which allowed political pluralism at the regional (republican) level. In the Moldavian SSR, as in many other parts of the Soviet Union, national movements became the leading political force.<ref>{{cite book
|last= Hare
|first= Paul
|editor= Paul Hare|editor2= Mohammed Ishaq|editor3= Judy Batt
|title= Reconstituting the market: the political economy of microeconomic transformation
|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lg7SIfkr1HwC&pg=PA363
|access-date= 30 October 2009
|year= 1999
|publisher= Taylor & Francis
|isbn= 90-5702-328-8
|page= 363
|chapter=Who are the Moldovans?
}}</ref> As these movements exhibited increasingly nationalist sentiments and expressed intent to leave the USSR in favor of uniting with Romania, they encountered growing opposition from among the primarily Russian-speaking ethnic minorities living in the republic.<ref name="Hare369">''Hare, Ishaq, Batt'', p. 369-370.</ref> This opposition to the new trends and potential future policies was manifested in a more visible way in Transnistria, where, unlike the rest of the MSSR, ethnic [[Moldovans]] (39.9%) were outnumbered by the combined figure of Russians and Ukrainians (53.8%) as per the [[1989 Census in Transnistria|1989 census in Transnistria]], largely due to higher immigration during the Soviet era.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

While some believe that the combination of a distinct history (especially 1918–1940) and a fear of discrimination by Moldovans, gave rise to separatist sentiments, others believe that ethnic tensions alone fail to account for the dynamics of the conflict. According to John Mackinlay and Peter Cross, who conducted a study based on casualty reports, significant numbers of both Transnistrians and Moldovans fought together on both sides of the conflict. They suggest that the conflict is more political in nature.<ref>[John Mackinlay and Peter Cross: Regional Peacekeepers, The Paradox of Russian Peacekeeping. United Nations University Press: New York & Paris, 2003. Pages 140–141]</ref>
{{History of Moldova}}
On 31 August 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR enacted two laws. One of them made [[Moldovan language|Moldovan]] the official language, in lieu of [[Russian language|Russian]], the ''de facto'' official language of the Soviet Union. It also mentioned a ''linguistic Moldo–Romanian identity''. The second law stipulated the return to the [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[Romanian alphabet]]. ''Moldovan language'' is the term used in the former Soviet Union for a virtually identical dialect of the [[Romanian language]] during 1940–1989. On 27 April 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR adopted the traditional tricolour (blue, yellow and red) flag with the Moldavian coat of arms and later changed in 1991 the national anthem to ''[[Deșteaptă-te, române!]]'', the national anthem of Romania since 1990. Later in 1990, the words ''Soviet'' and ''Socialist'' were dropped and the name of the country was changed to "[[Republic of Moldova]]".{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

These events, including the [[Romanian Revolution|end]] of the [[Nicolae Ceaușescu|Ceaușescu]] regime in neighboring Romania in December 1989 and the partial opening of the border between Romania and Moldova on 6 May 1990, led many in [[Transnistria]] and Moldova to believe that a union between Moldova and Romania was inevitable. This possibility caused fears among the Russian-speaking population that they would be excluded from most aspects of public life. From September 1989, there were strong scenes of protests in the region against the central government's ethnic policies. The protests developed into the formation of secessionist movements in [[Gagauzia]] and Transnistria, which initially sought autonomy within the Moldavian SSR, in order to retain Russian and [[Gagauz language|Gagauz]] as official languages. As the nationalist-dominated Moldavian Supreme Soviet outlawed these initiatives, the [[Gagauz Republic]] and Transnistria declared themselves as separate from Moldova and announced their application to be reattached to the Soviet Union as independent federal republics.<ref name="Hare369" />

===Political conflict===
The language laws presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non-Moldovan population of the [[Moldavian SSR]] did not speak Moldovan (Romanian). The problem of the official language in the MSSR had become a [[Gordian knot]], being exaggerated and, perhaps, intentionally politicized.{{says who|date=January 2023}} Some described the language laws as "discriminatory" and criticized their rapid implementation. Others, on the contrary, complained the laws were not followed.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

On 2 September 1990, the [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]] was proclaimed, "Pridnestrovie" being the name for Transnistria in Russian. On 22 December 1990 president [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]] signed a decree that declared void the decisions of the Second Congress of People Deputies of Transnistria from 2 September. For two months, Moldovan authorities refrained from taking action against this proclamation. Transnistria became one of the "unrecognized republics" that appeared throughout the USSR, alongside [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]] and [[Nagorno-Karabakh]]. These self-proclaimed states maintained close ties with each other.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

One of the first clashes between the Moldovan government and separatists occurred on 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari.<ref name="Dubăsari">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0NBb157NSYC&pg=PA54|title=Human Rights in Moldova: The Turbulent Dniester (Page 4)|author1=Erika Dailey |author2=Jeri Laber |author3=Lois Whitman|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=1993|isbn=9781564320896|access-date= 5 September 2011}}</ref> Local women stormed the Court and Prosecutor's Office and stayed there for several hours. A police detachment was then dispatched to clear a roadblock placed by the city residents on the bridge over the river [[Dniester]] that effectively cut the city off from the central government. After being prevented from clearing the roadblock, policemen opened fire, with three residents of Dubăsari being killed and 13 wounded, resulting in the first casualties of the conflict.<ref name="Dubăsari" /><ref name="MemorialReport" />

In the aftermath of the failure of the [[Soviet coup attempt of 1991]], on 27 August 1991, the Moldovan parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova. The declaration referred to the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] as "null and void" and viewed Moldova's Independence as an act of elimination of "the political and legal consequences of the above", declaring that the establishment of the [[Moldavian SSR]] on the territories of [[Bessarabia]], [[Northern Bukovina]], [[Hertsa region]] and the [[Moldavian ASSR]] was made in absence of "any real legal basis".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pridnestrovie.net/moldova_declaration_of_independence.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617065530/http://pridnestrovie.net/moldova_declaration_of_independence.html|url-status=dead|title=Moldova's 1991 Declaration of Independence|archivedate=17 June 2007}}</ref> The PMR interpreted this as meaning that the 1940-merger of the two sides of the Dniester river was dissolved. Moldova, however, did not agree, as large portions of the territory occupied in 1940 by the USSR remain in Ukraine, and almost immediately took steps to assert its sovereignty over the full territory of the former MSSR.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

At that time, the Republic of Moldova did not have its [[Military of Moldova|own army]], and the first attempts to create one took place in early 1992 in response to the escalating conflict. The newly independent Moldovan parliament asked the government of the USSR "to begin negotiations with the Moldovan government in order to put an end to the illegal occupation of the Republic of Moldova and withdraw Soviet troops from Moldovan territory".{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

When, on 29 August 1991, Transnistria's independence leader [[Igor Smirnov (politician)|Igor Smirnov]] and three other deputies arrived in [[Kyiv]], the capital of Ukraine, to meet Ukrainian leader [[Leonid Kravchuk]], Smirnov and Andrei Cheban were arrested by Moldova's police and immediately transported to a prison in Moldova. In protest, the women's strike committee headed by Galina Andreeva blocked the Moscow–Chișinău railway line at a waypoint between [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] (Tighina) and [[Tiraspol]], until the men were freed.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In late 1991, policemen in [[Tiraspol]] and [[Rîbnița]] swore allegiance to the PMR.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==Military strength==
[[File:Tiraspol bridge infantry vehicles.jpg|thumb|PMR trucks on the bridge between Tiraspol and Bender (Tighina)]]
By 1992, Moldova had troops under the Ministry of the Interior. On 17 March 1992, they started recruiting troops for the newly created Ministry of Defence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.gov.md/?action=show&cat=7 |title=Istoria creării Armatei Naționale (Moldova) |publisher=Army.gov.md |access-date=5 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904090709/http://www.army.gov.md/?action=show&cat=7 |archive-date=4 September 2011 }}</ref> By July 1992, total Moldovan troop strength has been estimated at 25,000–35,000, including called-up police officers, conscripts, reservists and volunteers, especially from the Moldavian localities near the conflict zone.

In addition to Soviet weaponry inherited upon independence, Moldova also obtained arms from Romania.<ref name="Sislin">[https://books.google.com/books?id=6HMmOs8klhUC Arms and Ethnic Conflict, John Sislin, Frederic S. Pearson (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), p. 99], {{ISBN|0-8476-8855-0}}</ref> Romania also sent military advisors and volunteers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://miris.eurac.edu/mugs2/do/blob.html?type=html&serial=1223625231678|title=Voronin says Romania started Moldova's war against Transnistria|date=29 April 2008|access-date=25 March 2022|website=miris.eurac.edu|publisher=Tiraspol Times}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> to aid Moldova during the conflict.

At the same time, the Russian [[14th Guards Army]] in Moldovan territory numbered about 14,000 professional soldiers. The PMR authorities had 9,000 militiamen trained and armed by officers of the 14th Army. The volunteers came from the Russian Federation: a number of Don, Kuban, Orenburg, Sibir and local Transnistrian Black Sea Cossacks joined in to fight alongside the separatists. Due to the irregular makeup of the forces, troop strength of the PMR is in dispute, but it is believed that during March it numbered around 12,000.<ref>Евгений Норин. Под знаменами демократии. С. 51</ref>

Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the [[USSR]], [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] and the Russian Federation in turn) stationed in Transnistria, had fought with and on behalf of the PMR forces.<ref>Vahl, Marius. [http://ceps01.link.be/Article.php?article_id=222 Borderland Europe: Transforming Transnistria?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325194808/http://ceps01.link.be/Article.php?article_id=222 |date=25 March 2007 }} Centre for European Political Studies, October 2001.</ref><ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/russia/#P169_26952 Analysis of the Transnistrian Conflict] "Human Rights and Russian Military Involvement in the "Near Abroad"" Human Rights Watch December. 1993</ref> A significant portion of the personnel of the Russian 14th Army were local conscripts and officers that had been given local residence. PMR units were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian troops chose not to oppose the PMR units who had come to help themselves from the Army's stores; on the contrary, in many cases they helped the PMR troops equip themselves by handing over weapons and by opening up the ammunition stores to them.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In December 1991, the Moldovan authorities arrested Lieutenant-General Yakovlev in [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] territory, accusing him of helping the PMR forces to arm themselves by using the weapons stocks of the 14th Army. At that time, General Yakovlev has been both Commander of the 14th Army and "Head of the National Defence and Security Department" of the PMR. The government of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan government to obtain the release of General Yakovlev in exchange for 26 policemen detained by PMR forces at the start of the fighting in Dubăsari.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

On 5 April 1992, Vice President [[Aleksandr Rutskoy|Rutskoy]] of Russia, in a speech delivered to 5,000 people in [[Tiraspol]], encouraged the Transnistrian people to obtain their independence.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==Military conflict==
The first fatalities in the emerging conflict took place on 2 November 1990, two months after the PMR's 2 September 1990 declaration of independence. Moldovan forces entered [[Dubăsari]] in order to separate Transnistria into two halves, but were stopped by the city's inhabitants, who had blocked the bridge over the [[Dniester]], at [[Lunga, Transnistria|Lunga]]. In an attempt to break through the roadblock, Moldovan forces then opened fire.<ref>Vlad Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictlui de la Dubăsari", Prut International 2005, {{ISBN|9975-69-741-0}}, page 30-34 (Romanian)]</ref> In the course of the confrontation, three Dubăsari locals, Oleg Geletiuk, Vladimir Gotkas and Valerie Mitsuls, were killed by the Moldovan forces and sixteen people wounded.<ref name="nr2.ru">{{cite web|url=https://newdaynews.ru/pmr/90227.html |title=Dubossary marked anniversary of the first Dniester engagement |publisher=newdaynews.ru |date=4 March 2011 |access-date=5 September 2011}}</ref>

A second Moldovan attempt to cross the Lunga bridge took place on 13 December 1991. As a result of the fighting, 27 PMR troops were taken prisoner and four Moldovan troops (Ghenadie Iablocikin, Gheorghe Cașu, Valentin Mereniuk and Mihai Arnăut) were killed,<ref>Vlad Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari", page 38-39</ref> without Moldova being able to cross the bridge. After this second failed attempt, there was a lull in military activity until 2 March 1992, considered the official start date of the War of Transnistria.{{by whom|date=October 2020}} This day was the same day when Moldova was admitted as a member of the [[United Nations]], i.e. received full international recognition of its 27 August 1991 declaration of independence. After Transnistrian paramilitary advances Moldova declared the state of emergency on 29 March, the armed conflict culminated in May and June in three areas along the [[Dniester|Dniester river]], and died down on 19–21 June after the [[Battle of Bender (1992)|Battle of Bender]] (also Tighina) where the 14th former Soviet Army intervened and drove the Moldovan army putting an end to the conflict.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Cocieri-Dubăsari area===
[[File:Building still showing damage from the brief fighting in Bendery during Transnistria's war for independence from Moldova (15419098223).jpg|thumb|200px|Building still showing damage from the brief fighting in Bender during Transnistria's war for independence from Moldova]]
The first area of military action was on the eastern shore of the Dniester river, from north to south, the villages of [[Molovata Nouă]], [[Cocieri]] (approx 6,000 inhabitants), [[Corjova, Dubăsari|Corjova]] and the city of [[Dubăsari]] (approx 30,000 inhabitants), together forming a contiguous mainly inhabited area 10–12&nbsp;km (about 7 miles) along the shore. The only connection to the western bank from the three villages is either a ferry, or two bridges in Dubăsari.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

On 1 March 1992 Igor Shipcenko, the PMR militia chief of Dubăsari, was killed by a teenager and Moldovan police were accused of the killing. Although minor, this incident was a sufficient spark for the already very tense situation to blow up and cause the conflict to escalate.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In response, the Cossacks who came from [[Rostov-on-Don]] to support the PMR side stormed the police precinct in Dubăsari during the night. Moldovan president [[Mircea Snegur]], afraid of starting an armed conflict, ordered the 26 policemen to surrender to the attacking Cossacks and PMR forces. They were later exchanged for Lieutenant-General Yakovlev. Moldovan policemen loyal to [[Chișinău]] from the Dubăsari raion (district), instead of returning to work in the occupied precinct in Dubăsari, now a milice precinct, gathered in Cocieri.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

On 2 March 1992, locals from Cocieri, after hearing about the situation in Dubăsari, broke into the small local arms depot to arm themselves against the PMR side. Three locals (Alexandru Luchianov from Cocieri, Alexandru Gazea from Molovata and Mihai Nour from [[Roghi]]) were killed, but the military unit from Cocieri was defeated by the Moldovans. The officers and their families were forced to leave the village.<ref>V. Grecu – "O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari", page 65-68</ref> More policemen were ferried the following days from the western bank of the Dniester. They organized a defense line around the three villages, while PMR forces retained control of Dubăsari. In the following weeks both PMR and Moldovan forces amassed large numbers in the area and fought a [[Trench warfare|trench war]], with intermittent ceasefires.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Coșnița area===
A similar development occurred on 13 March in the villages of Coșnița, Pîrîta, Pohrebea and Doroțcaia. A second "bridge-head" was formed on the eastern bank, now south of Dubăsari.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

In April, Russian Vice President [[Alexander Rutskoy]] visited Transnistria and expressed the full support of Transnistrian separatists by Soviet Russia.<ref>[http://mkspmr.idknet.com/content/view/790/209/ Хроника конфликта в Приднестровско – Молдавской республике с 1988 по 2006 г.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317032243/http://mkspmr.idknet.com/content/view/790/209/ |date=17 March 2009 }} {{in lang|ru}}; {{YouTube|lhAVRVKqywY|Alexander Rutskoi visit in Bender in 1992 (video)}}</ref>

===Bender/Tighina area===
{{main|Battle of Bender (1992)}}
A ceasefire was in negotiation during June 1992 in the [[Bender, Moldova|Bender (Tighina) area]]. However, [[Battle of Bender (1992)|a full-scale battle]] erupted after regular Moldovan forces entered the city of Bender in an attempt to reestablish the authority of Moldova there. It has been reported that this action was a response to the stand-off at the police station in Bender on 19 June 1992. On the afternoon of that day, the Moldovan police in Bender arrested the 14th Army's Major Yermakov on suspicion of planned subversion. After his arrest, PMR guards opened fire on the police station. The Moldovan government ordered its troops to enter the city the following morning. Urban warfare ensued between the two sides in the densely populated city, causing civilian casualties.<ref name=":0" /> Moldovan radio report that three Soviet Russian [[T-64]] tanks from the 14th Army, some bearing Russian flags, were destroyed when closing in on central Bender,<ref name=":0" /> two by [[T-12 antitank gun]]s, and a third by a rocket propelled grenade that set its engine on fire. A fourth tank was disabled when its tracks were struck by another rocket propelled grenade.<ref name=":2" /> Russian Army spokesmen said the tanks had been seized from depots by separatists. Russian sources reported "dozens of dead" in the streets.<ref name=":0">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/world/moldovan-forces-seize-a-key-town.html | work=The New York Times | title=Moldovan Forces Seize A Key Town | date=21 June 1992}}</ref>

The news of the havoc in Bender reached Tiraspol, only 11&nbsp;km (7 miles) away, as Moldovan troops were approaching the crucial bridge over the Dniester. At this point, with the support of ROG's tanks, the Transnistrian Republican Guard and Cossack volunteers rushed to confront the Moldovan forces. Russian Vice-President Rutskoy, in a speech delivered on the main channel of the Russian television, called for all Russian forces in Tiraspol to storm Bender. In the course of the following days, parts of the city of Bender, including the center, were retaken by PMR forces.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

On 22 June 1992, acting on news that troops from the 14th Army were ready to cross the Dniestr and move deep into Moldova, the Moldovan military ordered an airstrike to destroy the bridge between Bender and Tiraspol. Three [[Mikoyan MiG-29|MiG-29]]s took off from Chisinau, two armed with six [[OFAB-100-120|OFAB]]-250 bombs apiece. The other aircraft was a MiG-29UB providing cover. No direct hits were achieved on the intended target, but the bridge received some blast and splinter damage from near misses. One of the bombs went astray and fell on a civilian residence, killing a number of people inside. Sources from the 14th Army claimed a second MiG-29 attack on an oil refinery at Tiraspol the following day, in which one aircraft was allegedly shot down by a [[S-125 Neva/Pechora]] missile, but this sortie was denied by Moldovan authorities.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Tim|last2=Stratulat|first2=Alexandru|date=May 1998|title=War in Moldova (1992)|journal=[[Airman Magazine]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bárcenas Medina|first1=Luis Andrés|last2=López Jiménez|first2=José Ángel|date=December 2011|title=Los Conflictos Congelados de la Antigua Unión Soviética|url=https://publicaciones.defensa.gob.es/media/downloadable/files/links/c/o/conflictos_congelados_union_sovietica.pdf|journal=Conflictos Internacionales Contemporáneos|language=es|publisher=Ministerio de Defensa|volume=15|pages=60–1}}</ref>

==Ceasefire and Joint Control Commission==
[[File:Benderskii memorial slavy 13.jpg|thumbnail|270px|Bender's war memorial]]
[[File:Transnistriamapa.png|thumb|Territorial control after the end of the Transnistria War]]
A ceasefire agreement was signed on 21 July.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leaders sign Moldova peace pact|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/07/21/Leaders-sign-Moldova-peace-pact/9391711691200/|date=21 July 1992|author=Jeff Berliner|website=[[United Press International]]|language=en}}</ref> This official document whose broad lines was established by the Russian side, was signed by the presidents of Russia ([[Boris Yeltsin]]) and Moldova ([[Mircea Snegur]]). The agreement provided for peacekeeping forces charged with ensuring observance of the ceasefire and security arrangements, composed of five Russian battalions, three Moldovan battalions and two PMR battalions under the orders of a joint military command structure, the [[Joint Control Commission]] (JCC).{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

It is estimated that in total nearly one thousand people were killed in the conflict, with the number of wounded approaching 3,000. Unlike many other post-Soviet conflicts, IDPs (internally displaced persons) did not reach large numbers in the war of Transnistria.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Days after the truce had been agreed upon, a military confrontation between a local self-defence unit and the Moldovan army, took place in [[Gîsca]] (Gyska), a village with an ethnic Russian majority near Bender. At least three villagers were killed. During the combat, civil buildings were damaged or destroyed by artillery fire. Later reports of ceasefire violations have been brought under control with no known loss of human lives.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The Russian 14th Army's role in the area was crucial to the outcome of the war. The Moldovan army's position of inferiority prevented it from gaining control of Transnistria. Russia has since disbanded the 14th army and reduced troop strength in Transnistria to a corps of around 1,300 men who form part of the [[Joint Control Commission|JCC]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

With the PMR's overwhelming military superiority, Moldova had little chance of achieving victory and the fighting was unpopular with the skeptical Moldovan population.<ref name=":1">William Crowther,"Moldova: caught between nation and empire," in ''New States, New Politics'', [[Ian Bremmer]] and [[Ray Taras]], eds., (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 322.</ref>

==Human rights abuses==
According to a Human Rights Center "Memorial" report, local [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] eyewitnesses on 19 June 1992 saw Moldovan troops in armored vehicles deliberately firing at houses, courtyards and cars with heavy machine guns.<ref name="MemorialReport">{{cite web|url=http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/moldavia/benderye.htm|title=Large-scale and gross violations of human rights and the situation in the zone of armed conflict in and around the city of Bender (June–July, 1992)|publisher=Human Rights Center "Memorial"|access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> The next day, Moldovan troops allegedly shot at civilians that were hiding in houses, trying to escape the city, or helping wounded PMR guardsmen. Other local eyewitnesses testified that in the same day, unarmed men that gathered in the Bender downtown square in request of the PMR Executive Committee, were fired at from machine guns.<ref name="MemorialReport"/> HRC observers were told by doctors in Bender that as a result of heavy fire from Moldovan positions between 19 and 20 June, they were unable to attend the wounded.<ref name="MemorialReport"/>

From 21 to 22 June, both sides engaged in intense urban street fighting, which employed the use of tanks, artillery and grenade launchers. Officers from both sides admitted that these actions led to an increase in civilian casualties.<ref name="MemorialReport"/> During this time period, ambulance cars were fired upon, with both sides accusing each other of the attacks. PMR sources stated that in Bender, one doctor was killed and several wounded, while six ambulance personnel were wounded in [[Căușeni]].<ref name="MemorialReport"/>

In the Moldovan city of [[Chișinău]], HRC Memorial observers interviewed 12 Transnistrian prisoners of war. The prisoners stated that while being initially detained and interrogated in Căușeni, they were severely beaten with clubs and gun buttstocks by Moldovan police, as well as being threatened with firing squads. There were also reports of captured Moldovan policemen, soldiers and volunteers being beaten and tortured by PMR forces.<ref name="MemorialReport"/>

==Foreign involvement==
===Involvement of the Russian Army===
{{main|Russian military presence in Transnistria}}

Although the [[Russian Ground Forces|Russian Army]] officially took the position of neutrality and non-involvement, many of its officers were sympathetic towards the fledgling Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and some even defected in order to help the PMR side openly. ROG [[Parcani, Transnistria|Parcani]] sapper battalion, under the orders of General Butkevich, went over to the PMR side. This battalion later destroyed the bridges at [[Dubăsari]], [[Gura Bâcului]]–[[Bâcioc]] and [[Coșnița]]. Moldovan forces used aircraft in the village of Parcani (Parkany) and shelled the ROG station there which meant engaging not just PMR but also Russian forces.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In 1991, PMR paramilitary forces conducted forays into supply depots of the 14th Guards Army, appropriating an unknown but large amount of equipment. With the commanding officer of the 14th Guards Army, General G. I. Yakovlev, openly supporting the newly created PMR, these forays usually met no resistance from army guards, who never faced punishment. Yakovlev eventually participated in the founding of the PMR, served in the PMR Supreme Soviet and accepted the position as the first chairman of the PMR Department of Defense on 3 December 1991, causing the Commander-in-Chief of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] armed forces, [[Yevgeny Shaposhnikov]], to promptly relieve him of his rank and service in the Russian military.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Anna Volkova, [http://www.olvia.idknet.com/glava6.htm ''Leader''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924055959/http://www.olvia.idknet.com/glava6.htm |date=24 September 2015 }} (Tiraspol’: [s.n.], 2001), 56. Chapter 6.</ref> Yakovlev's successor, General Yuriy Netkachev, assumed a more neutral stance in the conflict. However, his attempts at mediation between [[Chișinău]] and [[Tiraspol]] were largely unsuccessful and the situation escalated to an open military engagement by June 1992. On 23 June, in the wake of a coordinated offensive by Moldovan forces, Major General [[Alexander Lebed]] arrived at the 14th Army headquarters with standing orders to inspect the army, prevent the theft of armaments from its depots, stop the ongoing conflict with any means available and ensure the unimpeded evacuation of armaments and Army personnel from Moldovan and through Ukrainian territory. After briefly assessing the situation, he assumed command of the army, relieving Netkachev, and ordered his troops to enter the conflict directly. On 3 July at 03:00, a massive artillery strike from 14th Army formations stationed on left bank of the Dniester obliterated the Moldovan force concentrated in Gerbovetskii forest, near Bender, effectively ending the military phase of the conflict.<ref>Irina F. Selivanova. [https://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF129/CF-129-chapter4.html "U.S. and Russian Policymaking With Respect to the Use of Force", chapter 4, Trans-Dniestria]</ref><ref name=bergman>{{in lang|ru}} [http://femida-pmr.narod.ru/politika/051012_bergman.htm "Вождь в чужой стае"] by Mikhail Bergman</ref> Romanian authors Anatolie Muntean and Nicolae Ciubotaru attribute to Lebed a quote demonstrating his support of the Transnistrian cause: "I am proud that we helped and armed Transnistrian guards against Moldovan fascists".<ref>Anatolie Muntean, Nicolae Ciubotaru – "Războiul de pe Nistru" (The war on Dniestr), Ager-Economistul Publishing House, Bucharest 2004, page 451 (with a photo of Lebed inspecting Transnistrian guards) {{in lang|ro}}</ref> He also called himself as "guarantor" of the "Dniester Republic".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WI8Q4vkWiM8C&q=guarantor|title=Moscow's "near Abroad": Security Policy in Post-Soviet Europe|first=William C.|last=Bodie|date=18 March 1993|publisher=Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University|via=Google Books}}</ref> However, he bore no goodwill towards the Transnistrian leadership and frequently denounced them as "criminals" and "bandits". Another quote attributed to him describes his stance as follows: "I told the hooligans [separatists] in Tiraspol and the fascists in Chișinău – either you stop killing each other, or else I'll shoot the whole lot of you with my tanks".<ref name="humphries"/>

===Involvement of Russian and Ukrainian volunteers===
Volunteers from Russia and Ukraine, including [[Don Cossacks|Don]] and [[Kuban Cossacks]], fought on Transnistria's side. There is no general consensus on the number of volunteers or the military role they played in the conflict. Estimates range from as low as 200 to as high as 3,000.<ref name="Muntean"/><ref name=arbatov>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ArKtx7XsMHAC Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives, Alexei Arbatov, et al. eds. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997), p. 178], {{ISBN|0-262-51093-6}}</ref> Russian volunteers included: [[Dmitry Rogozin]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unimedia.md/?mod=news&id=46646|title = UNIMEDIA - Portalul de știri nr. 1 din Moldova}}</ref> [[Eduard Limonov]] and [[Igor Girkin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/26225/3108701/ |script-title=ru:В бой за Донбасс идет господин реконструктор! |trans-title=In the battle for the Donbass is Mr. Enactor! |language=ru |website=Комсомольская Правда |date=29 April 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-date=30 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530190300/http://www.kp.ru/daily/26225/3108701/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the Transnistria War, [[UNA-UNSO]] members fought alongside Transnistrian separatists against Moldovan government forces in defense of a large ethnic-Ukrainian minority in Transnistria.<ref name="UNA-UNSO"/> The incongruous motive of assisting a mostly pro-Russian region was for the "[[Pan-Slavism|struggle of Slavs]] over Moldovan-Romanian aggression."<ref name="UNA-UNSO"/> Following the war, 50 UNSO members were awarded the PMR "Defender of Transnistria" medal.

According to Romanian sources, at least one inmate was released from Bender prison to be enrolled in the Transnistrian Guard.<ref name=Muntean>{{in lang|ro}} Anatolie Muntean, Nicolae Ciubotaru – "Războiul de pe Nistru", Ager – Economistul Publishing House, Bucharest 2004, pages 119 and 122.</ref>

===Involvement of Romania===
Shortly before the escalation of the conflict in late June 1992, Romania provided military support to Moldova by supplying weaponry, ammunition and armed vehicles,<ref name="Sislin"/><ref name="arbatov"/> and also by sending military advisers and training Moldovan military and police forces.<ref name=bergman /> Volunteers from Romania fought on Moldova's side.<ref name=humphries/><ref name="rupesinghe"/><ref>[http://www.regnum.ru/news/966399.html Приднестровский парламентарий: Причиной приднестровского конфликта стало то, что Молдавия провозгласила себя моноэтническим государством], REGNUM News Agency, 20:04 3 March 2008</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of Transnistria]]
* [[Kozak memorandum]]
* [[Military history of the Russian Federation]]
* [[Moldova–Transnistria relations]]
* [[Moldovan neutrality]]
* [[Odesa Military District]]
* [[Russian military presence in Transnistria]]
* [[Transnistria conflict]]
* [[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]]

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* Vlad Grecu, ''O viziune din focarul conflictului de la Dubăsari'', Editura Prut International, Chișinău, 2005 {{in lang|ro}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Covalschi |first1=Stanislav |last2=Leancă |first2=Viorica |date=2014 |title=Aspect Geopolitic al Conflictului Transnistrean |trans-title=Geopolitical Aspect of the Transnistrian Conflict |url=http://www.jurnaluljuridic.in.ua/archive/2014/3/45.pdf |journal=Jurnalul juridic național: Teorie și practică |issue=3 |pages=242–247 |issn=2345-1130 |access-date=18 April 2021}}

==External links==
* [http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/moldavia/benderye.htm Armed conflict in and around the city of Bender]

{{Transnistria conflict}}
{{Geography of the Transnistria conflict}}
{{Transnistria topics}}
{{Post-Cold War European conflicts}}
{{Russian Conflicts}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transnistria War}}
[[Category:Transnistria War| ]]
[[Category:Transnistria conflict|War]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1990]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1991]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1992]]
[[Category:Ethnic conflicts]]
[[Category:Conflicts in territory of the former Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Separatism in Moldova]]
[[Category:Wars involving Russia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Moldova]]
[[Category:Wars involving Romania]]
[[Category:History of Transnistria since 1991]]
[[Category:1992 in Transnistria]]
[[Category:Proxy wars]]
[[Category:Military of Transnistria]]
[[Category:1990 in Transnistria]]
[[Category:1991 in Transnistria]]