Russia removes half of its munitions stock from Dniestr
Russia has withdrawn half the total amount of missiles and artillery shells stored in the Dniestr area, the head of the artillery depot of the Russian united military grouping in Moldova, Lt-Col Yuriy Idrisov, told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.
The 30th train with military property will depart from the Dniestr area for Russia on Thursday night. It will be carrying about 1,000 t of ammunition from the military depot in Kolbasnaya. This military facility, located 175 km from Tiraspol, operates under Russian jurisdiction. Two special trains have been leaving from Kolbasnaya every week since the moment when the timetable and conditions for the transportation of ammunition were agreed with the Dniestr authorities in November.
"At the same rate, the last train would be dispatched from the Dniestr region in six or seven months," Idrisov said.
However, politics can interfere with the plans drawn up by the military. The leader of the Dniestr republic, Igor Smirnov, told Russian journalists on Tuesday [16 December] that the Dniestr authorities might place obstacles in the way of the withdrawal of Russian munitions to Russia. Tiraspol does not make a secret of the fact that it can use the artillery depot in Kolbasnaya as an argument in its dispute with Chisinau if the latter lets the old conflict get worse.
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