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Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy of the State Duma and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, threatens Moldova with a “bloodbath” if Chisinau tries to implement the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria.
In this situation, the Russian contingent will not withdraw, but will double or even triple, he also said, according to Agerpres, quoting Deschide.md.
Zhirinovsky’s attack, known for its less diplomatic language, comes after the Kremlin and Russia’s Foreign Ministry reacted harshly to a statement made in late November by Moldova’s president-elect Maia Sandu that de Indeed, Chisinau had reiterated, prior to the rise of prosocialist socialist president Igor Dodon to power in 2016, regarding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria and the evacuation of Russian ammunition from Cobasna, according to media across Prut.
“If there is an attempt to withdraw our ‘peacekeeping contingent’, we will double or even triple it. Who is it? Almost everyone has Russian passports there. There are 250,000 Russian citizens (in Transnistria). Under the Constitution, we should protect them, but they don’t ask for it. Because they have enough weapons there, “Zhirinovsky told a political debate program in Rossia-1 on December 4.
In this regard, the Russian politician said that in the Cobasna warehouses there is enough ammunition for “an entire Third World War in Europe.” According to him, the liquidation of such a quantity of weapons is impossible, because the shock wave “will shake the whole of Europe”.
“We were prepared for a possible war, and Cobasna was our main depot. Now this ammunition cannot be liquidated or moved, because in the event of an explosion, Europe could be shaken by a shock wave,” he insisted. He added that the evacuation of ammunition is quite dangerous since it could explode on the road, and nobody wants to pay for the liquidation of weapons. “The warehouse will remain there for its basic destination,” he said.
“We must not only say, but also warn: not only will we not withdraw, but at all times we will increase the contingent of peacekeeping forces. If even a single (Russian) soldier dies, you will die.” bathe in a bloodbath, you will not even have time to get to the Chisinau airport, we will get to all of you, “Zhirinovsky threatened.
During the Soviet period, the Cobasna warehouse was known as warehouse no. 1411 artillery ammunition, representing the strategic arsenal of the USSR Southwest Military District. But most of the ammunition was stored here after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), Czechoslovakia, and other former Warsaw Pact countries. According to official figures, more than 20,000 tons of weapons and ammunition are currently stored here.
In reaction to the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who described on November 30 as “irresponsible” his call for the withdrawal of troops from the Transnistrian Task Force (GOTR) and ammunition on the left bank of the Dniester, Maia Sandu recalled that the minister Russian Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu promised in the summer of 2019 that Russia would evacuate the more than 20,000 tons of ammunition from Cobasna warehouses.
In her appeal, Maia Sandu referred to the withdrawal of the GOTR, created on the remains of the former Soviet XIV Army in Transnistria, and called for the transformation of the Russian peacekeeping mission on the left bank of the Dniester into a civilian one, under OSCE mandate.
