Explosions hit radio tower in Russia-backed breakaway region in Moldova

The interior ministry of Trans-Dniester, a separatist Russia-backed territory in ex-Soviet Moldova, said Tuesday that two explosions targeted a radio center near the border with Ukraine.

“Early on April 26, two explosions were heard in the village of Mayak in Grigoriopolsky district,” the interior ministry of the breakaway republic said in a statement.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

It said the blasts at 6:40 am and 7:05 am (0340 GMT and 0405 GMT) targeted the “Mayak” radio center, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the regional capital Tiraspol.

The ministry said two “powerful” antennae that were re-broadcasting Russian radio were out of order, and shared images of them lying on the ground.

There were no injuries, it added.

On Monday, authorities in the breakaway region said the offices of the state security ministry in Tiraspol were hit by what appeared to be a grenade-launcher attack.

There was no immediate reason to suggest a link between the two incidents.

Trans-Dniester is an unrecognized Moscow-backed breakaway region that borders western Ukraine.

Moscow still has a military base there, as well as a stockpile of some 20,000 tons of munitions.

The incidents come after a senior Russian military official last week raised the issue of Russian speakers in Trans-Dniester in the context of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Moldova’s foreign ministry summoned Russia's ambassador over the comments, which it called “unfounded and contradicting Russia's position in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country within internationally recognized borders.”

Read more:

Ukraine urges UN to guarantee safe corridor from Mariupol steel plant

France’s President Macron boosts weapons, stakes in Ukraine after re-election

Russia’s expulsion of 40 German diplomats not ‘justified’: Berlin