Cobasna (

Moldovan Cyrillic The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan regio ...

: Кобасна; , ''Kovbasna''; , ''Kolbasnaya'') is a commune in northern

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

that is composed of three villages: Cobasna, Cobasna station, and Suhaia Rîbnița. It is controlled by the self-proclaimed authorities of

. It is located 2 km from the border with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, in

Rîbnița District The Rîbnița District ( ro, Raionul Rîbnița; russian: Рыбницкий район; uk, Рибницький район) is an administrative district of Transnistria (''de facto'') in Moldova (''de jure''). Its seat is the city of Rîbnița ...

. Cobasna is the site of a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n, and formerly

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, ammunition depot known as the

Cobasna ammunition depot The Cobasna ammunition depot is a large ammunition depot located in the village of Cobasna. Legally and internationally recognized as part of Moldova as a whole, the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria controls the village and the ammun ...

. It has been referred to as the largest in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

. The majority of the original ammunition has either disappeared or has been removed from Cobasna under

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) supervision. Military equipment which was impractical to remove has undergone on-site destruction as per Moldovan demands that the "weapons dump" of Transnistria be removed. Transnistrian sources claim that the U.S. State Department recognizes that the process of removal of

n munitions and equipment has been carried out with efficiency during 2003. In 2004 this removal process was blocked by Transnistrian authorities after tensions rose. Today, around 22,000 tons of military equipment and ammunition reportedly remain there, guarded by Russian troops. 1,500 troops of the

Operational Group of Russian Forces The Operational Group of Russian Forces in Transnistria (OGRF; ro, Grupul Operativ al Trupelor Ruse din Transnistria, ; russian: Оперативная группа российских войск в Приднестровье, ) is a sizable ove ...

are stationed in the area. On 27 April 2022, the

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Transnistria The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Transnistria (Russian: Министерство внутренних дел Приднестровской Молдавской Республики) also known as the Ministry of the Interior is an official g ...

reported that drones flew over Cobasna and that shots were fired on the village. The ministry claimed that the drones came from Ukraine. Several attacks had recently occurred in Transnistria at the time. They occurred during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, and may been a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

operation by Russia or Transnistria itself.

Notes

References

External links

OSCE arms control and disarmament
osce.org * http://www.blackseanews.net/en/read/68688 Communes of Transnistria Bratslav Voivodeship Baltsky Uyezd Military installations of the Soviet Union Ammunition dumps Rîbnița District {{Transnistria-stub