О нашем радио

Выход «Радио Приднестровья» в большой эфир всколыхнул коллег-журналистов из разных стран мира. По визитным карточкам приезжавших можно было изучать географию не только Европы, но и других континентов: Франция, Германия, Италия, Швеция, Англия, Греция, Израиль и даже Австралия.

Всех заинтересовала проблема Приднестровья. Их уже не удовлетворяло одностороннее (кишиневское) объяснение возникшей проблемы.

Журналисты искали встреч с государственными и общественными деятелями республики. И, конечно, зарубежных журналистов интересовало, как работают их коллеги на приднестровском радио, удостоенном глушения со стороны противника. (Этим, кстати, в свое время весьма гордились «Голос Америки» и «Радио Свобода»).

Опыт общения с иностранными журналистами в начале 1990-х подсказал необходимость создания на «Радио Приднестровья», помимо редакций вещания на официальных языках государства - русском, украинском и молдавском, редакции вещания на иностранных языках.

В настоящее время вещание государственного радио Приднестровской Молдавской Республики осуществляется на 6-ти языках:

- в FM-диапазоне - на русском, украинском и молдавском языках;

- в СВ-диапазоне - на русском языке;

- в КВ-диапазоне - на русском, английском, немецком и французском языках;

- on-line трансляция в Интернете - на русском, украинском и молдавском языках.

В редакцию "Радио Приднестровья" приходят письма от слушателей из самых разных уголков мира: от наших ближайших соседей - Украины, Молдовы, Белоруссии и России - до таких отдаленных стран, как Великобритания, США, Канада, Япония, Австралия, Новая Зеландия, Китай, Бразилия, Венесуэла, Чили, Мексика, Индия, Нигерия, Алжир и др. Всего (на сегодняшний день) из 45-и стран мира.

Коллектив радио Приднестровской Молдавской Республики благодарен всем своим слушателям за внимание и отзывы о нашей работе.

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News from Pridnestrovie

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June 19 is a sad day for Pridnestrovie - the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, Day of Bendery tragedy.

The Bendery tragedy on June 19, 1992 is the quintessence of the war on the Dniester. It had revealed genocidal nature of the established regime in Moldova. Treachery of politicians and military cynicism displayed by the destruction of a peaceful city, amaze us even today. One shudders to think that Bendery had become the first in the list of recalcitrant Pridnestrovian cities subject to breakage.

The policy of suppression of the Pridnestrovian statehood in Kishinev was taken immediately after the proclamation of the PMR. Moldova's authority considered Dubossary the "weak link" of the republic. Geographical location is such that, had Moldova seized it, it would have split apart the major political and economic centers of the republic - Rybnitsa and Tiraspol and then would have destroyed any pockets of resistance, deprived of the mutual support. There were other factors, which, according to Kishinev strategists, Moldova disposed of. Dubossary and surrounding villages, located just 40 kilometers from Kishinev, in contrast to the large cities of PMR, are inhabited predominantly by Moldavians. In Kishinev, they decided that the Romanian idea would then prevail and become attractive for the Pridnestrovian Moldavians. Albeit, the ways in which this idea had been promoted, could hardly be called successful. Already in November 1990 there was the first attempt to capture the city. Dubossarians barricaded the bridge across the Dniester, formed a human chain and blocked the castigators' advance. The unarmed people were fired at - three young men were killed. Attacks recurred in September and December 1991. People were dying, but their deaths rallied them even more before a common threat.

With the start of full-scale military aggression aka "operation to restore constitutional order", as Kishinev dubbed it, Dubossary became the main theater of military operations. From March to June 1992 Moldova's armed forces and Pridnestrovian defenders were engaged in positional combat operations of varying intensity. Moreover, Moldova gradually stepped up the onslaught in anticipation that Pridnestrovians would give in. Having failed to intimidate Dubossarians with police forces, Kishinev had decided to use regular troops against civilians. Armored personnel carriers and heavy machine guns appeared at Moldova's positions. When they fail to break the resistance, the nationalist government did not scruple to use heavy artillery against the townspeople. From May 17, 1992, howitzers, mortars, rocket launchers delivered direct fire on residential areas of Dubossary, the dam of Dubossary HES, holding hundreds of millions of tons of water. Its debacle threatened about fifty downstream settlements with destruction.

In that situation, on June 2 Supreme Soviet of PMR adopted the Resolution "On measures to end the war and enforce peace." The document reaffirmed the inviolability of the status of Pridnestrovie as a sovereign, independent state proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence from August 25, 1991 and affirmed by referendum on December 1, 1991. The Supreme Soviet proposed to the Parliament of Moldova to discuss the withdrawal of Moldova's armed forces from Pridnestrovian territory and the cessation of hostilities, and suggested to conclude a federal contract to maintain a single economic and socio-cultural space. Pridnestrovian legislators also appealed to Russia and Ukraine to guarantee peaceful settlement of the conflict.

By this time Kishinev had started to realize the futility of war with Pridnestrovie, whose people were consolidating even harder. Therefore, the Moldavian Parliament considered the peace initiatives of Pridnestrovie. Moldova was in political crisis, the war government had to resign. Back in late May a mixed commission of representatives from Moldova and Pridnestrovie was established in order to seek a compromise. The result of Commission's work was the adoption by the Parliament of Moldova of the basic principles of peaceful settlement on 16 June 1992. The document provided, inter alia, the disengagement, disarmament and disbanding of militias of the parties, holding of free elections in Pridnestrovie and Moldova; formation of a government of national concord, ensuring proportional ethnic composition in the creation of institutions and governance at all levels. The document was little consistent with the will of Pridnestrovian people, still it gave hope for peace.

In June, the rapidly changing political situation in Moldova could create the illusion that Moldova's authority gave up the previous course toward ethnic separation. But it was a false illusion. When MPs were looking for compromises for peace, Moldova's soldierly were working out a new punitive operation using the full potential of the RM Armed Forces. But this time the strike was directed toward the center of the Pridnestrovian statehood - Bendery and Tiraspol. In the first half of June, attacks on Dubossary intensified in order to divert Pridnestrovians’ attention from Bendery.

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Bendery felt the breath of the war from the very first days of aggression. A plane circled over the town, dropping leaflets ordering to obey "the constitutional authorities", Moldova's forces massed in Bendery, the police was deployed in the city. On March 1992, terrorists of the Ministry of National Security of Moldova killed the famous Pridnestrovian patriots from Bendery Krasutsky and Belous. On 1 April the town was shocked by a new crime. Two Moldova's armored vehicles broke into the city and shot a militia post and a bus with workers. During April, armed clashes between police and Pridnestrovian guards went on in the city's outskirts, people were killed.

That was shocking; still nobody wanted to believe that an all-out war broke out on the Dniester. Russia, which had become embroiled in the conflict against her will, had made a lot of diplomatic efforts to appease the aggressor. On 12 and 19 April 1992 they signed several agreements that allowed one to separate the parties' troops. Joint patrols of Russian, Ukrainian, Moldavian and Romanian observers were established. In late April, Bendery was liberated. Pridnestrovian defenders dismantled barricades at the city's entrances. Pridnestrovian guards were even obliged to surrender their weapons, so that the city had no armed men. And although in the immediate vicinity of Bendery there were stationed Moldova's troops, in the city the police kept operating, maintaining relative calm. Bendery was considered under the supervision of international observers. The city lived a peaceful life for over a month. A few days prior to the invasion entrances to the city were cleaned from the last concrete barriers.

In the morning on June 19 Moldova's authority summoned the command of the Republican Guard, the Cossacks, and territorial rescue teams to Kishinev. As it turned out later, under the pretext of negotiations, Kishinev was going to disorganize and paralyze Pridnestrovian troops before the invasion.

The reason for the attack against Bendery was the clash between Moldova's police and Pridnestrovian guards. Police assaulted the guards' vehicle when it pulled over to the printing plant to fetch another circulation of leaflets. One failed to negotiate a cease-fire. The skirmishes spread to other places. At 19:00, a half hour after the incident, from different directions the Moldova's armored vehicles commenced penetrating the city "to help" the police. That was the beginning of the "Operation Trojan Horse". The analogy with Greek mythology consisted in the fact that under the guise and with the assistance of representatives of the quadripartite commission of observers from Romania and Moldova in the town there gradually massed undercover police officers and soldiers of Moldova, Romanian secret services and trained snipers. All the forces were to "open the gates of the city" and to ensure full input of the basic units of Moldova's Army.

The city was occupied for three hours. To exclude assistance from Tiraspol an anti-tank barrier was installed on a bridge over the Dniester. But in Bendery there spontaneously popped up pockets of resistance - actively defended the building of the Working Committee, the city police department, the Republican Guard barracks. But the most important was that over the building of Bendery City Council the Pridnestrovian flag kept flying - the city did not surrender. Moldova clearly was not ready to the fierce resistance of Pridnestrovians.

Lacking combat experience, especially in urban environments, Moldova's recruits opened fire indiscriminately from all weapons, which led to great destruction and massive casualties among civilians. At night, on June 20 they started shelling the city executive committee, where Pridnestrovian Cossacks and guardsmen took a defense perimeter, there was fighting in the area of the bridge across the Dniester. In the afternoon, the Moldova's military stormed the fortress, where there were deployed missile brigade of the 14th Russian Army. The Russian army had orders to strictly adhere to neutrality; the Moldavian side was deliberately provoking Russia in order to accuse it of aggression. The assault was repelled, but the Russian troops were killed and wounded.

During the day on June 20, when the town's hall building was shelled point blank, Pridnestrovians made several unsuccessful attempts to unlock the city. Each attack ended for Pridnestrovian defenders with evacuation of the dead and wounded. Only in the evening Cossack BTR-70 and T-64 tank could break through to the city council and to supply the city's defenders with ammunition and fire support. In the night of 20 to 21 June the main forces of Pridnestrovians broke through the enemy defense and unblocked the city. A disorderly retreat of Moldova's troops from the town ensued. By the evening of June 21, Moldova's troops controlled only two districts of the city and the Bendery suburb - the village of Varnitsa.

Notwithstanding, Kishinev sent new materiele and new recruits against Bendery. Meanwhile, Bendery industry was consistently plundered and destroyed. On June 22, Moldova tried to cut Pridnestrovians’ access to the city. MIG-29 aircraft, operational with the Moldavian army, bombed the bridge across the Dniester. However, the bombs fell on the nearby village Parkany, destroying several houses.

Intense fighting in Bendery went on throughout the week. The city was cleaned from the remnants of Moldova's militants, terrorists and snipers. In periods of calm they organized evacuation of the population, buried the dead. During the first few days of fighting in Bendery there were killed more than 300 people - mostly civilians. Peace returned to Bendery only on August 1 - the day when Russian peacekeepers took up their position by separating the parties to the conflict.

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Why would anybody want to destroy an unprotected and virtually unarmed peaceful city? What was the goal of those who planned and carried out the operation "Trojan horse", when peaceful settlement was just started being implemented? What were their motives and political calculations?

The scale of the tragedy did not fit in the head; it seemed it might come to mind of a completely mad bloody sadist.

Given the political course of Moldova's leadership toward unification with Romania, and some consequences of the tragedy, we can assume what was the goal of that bloody campaign.

The main purpose of genocide in a particular place is to break the people's morale, to provoke a mass migration of the unwanted people. The idea of ethnic cleansing in the early 90's had become pandemic in the post-Soviet space, but not everywhere they got the guts to implement it. The slogans "Suitcase, train station, Russia," "Russians - over the Dniester, Jews - into the Dniester" etc., turned out not just slogans, but a direct guide to action. It seems that while planning to destroy Bendery, a Russian-speaking city, the aggressor was going to intimidate and destroy the Pridnestrovians’ will. Following Bendery, Tiraspol should have been subjected to destruction. They figured out a mass exodus of the Russian, Ukrainians, Jews and other Russian citizens from the Pridnestrovian cities under pain of death. That would have not just deprived the Pridnestrovian republic of its viability that would have helped implement plans to achieve ethnic homogeneity throughout Moldova with the aim of its "harmonious" absorption by Romania.

The aggressors partially achieved their purpose: 100 thousand refugees abandoned Pridnestrovie within a few days, of which only 30% returned home. Although at a limited extent, the process of departure of the Russian speaking population from Moldova was launched.

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18 years have passed since the tragic events. Over the years, they have undertaken a lot of attempts to overcome the conflict, to find political solution to the relations between Moldova and Pridnestrovie. Thanks to the efforts of the guarantor countries and mediators, significant progress has been achieved, but still there is no understanding between Kishinev and Tiraspol. One of the reasons is reluctance of political regime in Moldova to admit their crimes against the people of Pridnestrovie, to punish the war criminals and to purge the fascist filth, which, by mimicking various institutions, foundations, organizations of the "democratic" color continues to exert a decisive influence on the political situation in Moldova.

Today, those who waged the war are not in power in Moldova any more, but those who now claim the power - be it liberals or communists - with persistence worthy of a better application keep demanding to change the current format of peacekeeping operation, to eliminate individual peacekeeping posts and to review the whole Security Zone. What are the objectives pursued by these policies? And how can one trust the unrepentant murderer?

The source: Community "For Democracy and Peoples' Rights", Ilya Vinogradov.