Cobasna ( Moldovan Cyrillic: 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 in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

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 invas ...

, in Rîbnița District. Cobasna is the site of a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n, and formerly

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

ammunition depot An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives. The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. The ...

known as the Cobasna ammunition depot. It has been referred to as the largest in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the 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 Russia, wh ...

. 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 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 ...

reported that

drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

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, 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