Transnistria and Gagauzia

​TRANSNISTRIAN ARMY MAY SWITCH TO WORKING-DAY SERVICE

12 january, 2017

The armed forces of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (PMR) may switch over to military service organized on the principle of a working day, with the exception of constant combat readiness units. Such an idea was first announced by new Transnistrian president Vadim Krasnoselsky, who attended the working meeting of the PMR government of Wednesday.

He outlined the defense ministry’s main tasks for the future such as inter alia the constant combat training of the personnel and armed forces on the whole, creation of conditions for raising young people’s interest to the military service etc.

“The bullying problem can be resolved by transition of the regular military service to a working day regime – from 8.00 to 18.00 hrs. As showed the practice of the Transnistrian interior ministry [Vadim Krasnoselsky is a police general and a former minister of the interior], not a single officer has dodged the military service over the 4 years of the mechanism. All men were returning to their barracks in the morning”, said Krasnoselsky.

The PMR supreme commander-in-chief also requested the ministry of defense to carry out an audit of armaments, ammunition, military equipment and other army property and to submit a corresponding report.

As already reported by Infotag, president Krasnoselsky has decreed to appoint Police Colonel Oleg Obruchkov as the republic’s new minister of defense. The previous minister¸ Gen. Ruslan Paulesco, has been downgraded to a deputy minister. The president also made changes in the structure and lineup of the Minister of Defense, but these changes haven’t been published yet.

So far, however, the Transnistrian region practices a universal compulsory military service. Young people serve in the army 1.5 years.

According to unofficial data, the armed forces of the Transnistrian region, whose population is 7 times smaller than that of the mainland Moldova’s, has armed forces with a personnel nearly twice greater than in Moldova – 15 thousand soldiers and officers on service. In case of a war emergency, the army strength can be built up to 80 thousand men in a matter of a few days.

The forces’ weaponry includes eighteen tanks of model T-64BV [Moldova – none]; 122 artillery systems (including 40 Grad units made locally), 30 howitzers and cannons of models D-44 and MT-12; anti-aircraft cannon C-60, ZU-23-2, ZPU-4, KS-19; unestablished number of mortars; up to 107 combat machines – armored personnel carriers of models BTR-60 and BTR-70 and combat reconnaissance machines BDRM-2.

The Transnistrian armed forces are equipped with anti-aircraft units “Igla” [“Needle”], grenade launchers RPG-7, RPG-18, RPG-22, RPG-26 and RPG-27, anti-tank grenade launchers SPG-9, antitank guided missiles “Maliutka”, “Fagot”, and “Concurs”.

The Transnistrian armed forces have 15 air vessels: five helicopters Mi-8 and four Mi2; airplanes – three Antonov-2, one Antonov-26, and two Yakovlev-18.

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