How the Nistru War broke out – 33 years since the conflict that divided the Republic of Moldova
At the dawn of its independence, the Republic of Moldova faced one of the greatest challenges in its recent history: the Nistru War. On March 2, 1992, the conflict officially escalated into open war, resulting in hundreds of casualties and the de facto loss of Chișinău’s control over the Transnistrian region.
The first armed clashes between Moldovan police and the military formations of the separatist region occurred in the late months of 1991.
After Moldova declared independence on August 27, 1991, relations between Chișinău and Tiraspol deteriorated significantly. In the Transnistrian region—located almost entirely on the east bank of the Nistru (except for the city of Tighina and the nearby villages of Gâsca and Chițcani)—separatist forces intensified efforts to replace Chișinău-controlled institutions with those under the command of the self-proclaimed "Dnestrian Republic," according to veridica.ro.
The Transnistrian separatists built up a large military force, consisting of the Republican Guard, militia, territorial rescue detachments, worker regiments, and Cossack units. These forces, estimated at over 20,000 troops, were armed, equipped, and trained by Russia’s 14th Army, which was stationed in the region.
At the time, the Republic of Moldova did not have its army. Initially, its armed forces consisted only of several thousand police officers and volunteer detachments. The National Army of the Republic of Moldova was effectively formed during the war itself.
The first battles between Chișinău-controlled forces and separatist troops occurred on December 13, 1991, when Transnistrian guards attacked near the Dubăsari bridge. The clash resulted in the deaths of four Moldovan police officers and 20 Transnistrian guards.
In the first days of March 1992, Transnistrian forces entered the village of Coșnita, another locality in the Dubăsari district, attacking the 15 Moldovan policemen who, in turn, opened fire, managing to repel the attack. On March 13, 1992, the guardsmen attacked Coșnita again, killed one policeman, and wounded several others. On March 14, 1992, Transnistrian forces blew up the bridges over the Nistru at Vadul lui Vodă and Dubăsari. Moldovan troops near Roghi were attacked, resulting in 15 deaths. During the night, the villages of Coșnita and Gura Bîcului were attacked with mines, grenades and rockets. Fighting continued throughout March.
During the same month, several appeals and protests by President Mircea Snegur and the Chisinau Parliament to the international community followed, denouncing the aggression committed by the Russian 14th Army on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Although Moscow rejected these accusations, it continued to support the separatist regime in Tiraspol.
On March 24, 1992, a ceasefire agreement was signed and a prisoner exchange was made.
On April 2, 1992, the commander of the Russian 14th Army, General Yuri Netkaciov, addressed an ultimatum to President Mircea Snegur, demanding that the Moldovan forces withdraw 15 km from Tighina.
A new ceasefire agreement was signed in Chisinau. The agreement would be respected only by Chisinau.
During April, attacks will take place in the areas of Tighina, Pohrebea – Cocieri, Coșnita – Dorotskaya, – Roghi, Grădinița, Leontova, Varnita, Misovca, Bâcioc, Chițcani. Moldovan troops are attacked with mine throwers and rockets. Mines and rockets are also launched at localities, the civilian population, dams, television relays, radio stations. Roads are mined and bombed. On April 5, 1992, 20 armored vehicles of the Russian army enter the city of Tighina, flying the flags of the Russian Federation.
In parallel, the quadripartite negotiations between the foreign ministers of the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia and Ukraine, which began on March 23, continue.
By May 15, however, only observers from the Republic of Moldova and Romania have arrived in the area.
On May 4, 1992, an agreement was signed in Gura Bâcului on the withdrawal of armed forces, but during the night, the separatists blew up the bridge over the Nistru near the town. In the following days, attacks happened in Cocieri, Coșnița, Gura Bâcului, Dragălina, Dubăsari-Pod, Roghi.
The crisis deepened after General Netkaciov received an order from Moscow to prepare the units of the 14th Army for battle. Russian tank and artillery units left the Tiraspol garrison, headed towards Dubăsari and joined the separatist troops. The towns of Coșnița, Cocieri, Corjova, Holercani, Molovata, Ustia, Zolonceni in the Dubăsari district were attacked. Violent attacks occured until May 26. The Moldovan troops generally resisted the attack.
President Snegur protests the aggression of the Russian army. Moscow claims that it is not involved in the destabilization of the situation in the region.
In the first half of June, the attacks of the separatists intensified in Tighina, Cocieri, Coșnița, Corjova, Dubăsari, Doroțcaia, Pohrebea. At the same time, those who remained loyal to the authorities in Chișinău are threatened and persecuted. During this period, members of the Ilașcu group are arrested in the Transnistrian region, being accused of terrorism: Ilie Ilașcu, Ștefan Urâtu, Tudor Petrov-Popa, Andrei Ivanțoc, Alexandru Leșco.
Amid these attacks, the authorities in Chișinău seem to give in to Russian pressure and become increasingly conciliatory towards the separatists in Tiraspol and towards Moscow. The Kremlin continues to accuse Chisinau of aggression and attempts to exterminate the Slavic population of the region, and Romania is accused of supplying weapons to the Republic of Moldova.
Despite Chisinau's hesitations, the bloodiest battles of the entire war take place in June, especially in Tighina.
On the morning of June 20, the city was mostly under the control of Moldovan troops. Tanks of the 14th Army try to force the bridge from Tiraspol to Tighina, but are stopped by Moldovan forces. For two days, Tighina is fired on with heavy weapons. At the same time, the localities of Dubasari, Cocieri, Doroțcaia, and Coșnita are attacked. Over 200 Moldovan combatants lost their lives in the battles for this city, and another 300 were wounded.
The war officially ended on July 21, 1992, when Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Moldovan President Mircea Snegur signed the Ceasefire Agreement in Moscow, in the presence of separatist leader Igor Smirnov. The document, called the Convention, stipulated an immediate ceasefire, the creation of a "security zone", the establishment of peacekeeping forces from Russia, Moldova and the separatist region, and ordered the creation of a commission to monitor the implementation of the agreement.
The document was described by some military and politicians as a "betrayal" or "shameful capitulation". Newspapers of the time included several analyses of the gains and concessions made.
The signing of this Agreement seems to have sown frustration among some of Chisinau's partners, because, until June, the Republic of Moldova had advocated for an international peacekeeping mission and a broad involvement of international organizations, but later abandoned this position, accepting that of Russia. Thus, peacekeeping troops consisting only of soldiers subordinated to Tiraspol, Russia and Chisinau were introduced into the conflict zone, with Romania being excluded from this process.
The only international body that was directly involved in resolving the conflict was the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which obtained mediator status. This status was also obtained by Russia and Ukraine. Later, the United States and the European Union joined the negotiation process, but only as observers.
Today, 33 years after the 1992 war, the Republic of Moldova has no control over the separatist Transnistrian region, which continues to declare itself an independent state.
In this military conflict, against the Moldovan constitutional forces, alongside the Transnistrian Guard and Cossack units, Russian military personnel, the so-called 14th Army, with over 6,000 soldiers, were also involved.
In recent years, hundreds of documents have been published in Chisinau that indisputably demonstrate the involvement of the troops of the Russian 14th Army in the military actions on the Nistru, their merger with the separatist troops, which transformed the conflict on the Nistru, which was apparently one between Chisinau and the separatists from Tiraspol, into a Moldovan-Russian war.
On July 8, 2004, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its decision on the case “Ilașcu and others v. the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation”. The ECtHR has criminalized for the first time in the international legal system the responsibility of the Russian Federation in the military conflict of 1991-1992. Thus, the Court found that, during the Moldovan-Russian conflict of 1991-1992, the forces of the 14th Army stationed on the left bank of the Nistru fought alongside the separatist forces.
It was also found that, throughout the conflict, the Russian leaders supported the separatist authorities in their statements, and the Russian authorities contributed both militarily and politically to the creation of a separatist regime in the region that is legally part of the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
The ECtHR decision is based on multiple evidence of the direct involvement of the Russian army in the Nistru war against the constitutional forces of the Republic of Moldova.
