Timeline of Events in The War of Transnistria - 1991

1991

• 12 March 1991: Based on the order of V. C. Bogdanov, a place tenant on the Tiraspol city Executive Committee, a 200-strong military unit is formed, with weapons and ammunition received from the Soviet Army. The same situation occurs in Tighina, Dubăsari and Rîbniţa.
• May 1991: The Moldovan government of Mircea Druc, a coalition between the Moldovan Popular Front and the reformist wing of the Communist Party of Moldova, is dismissed. The Moldovan Popular Front enters into opposition.
• May 1991: The Supreme Soviet of Transnistria orders all policemen from the Transnistrian territory to obey the separatist authorities. A separatist Ministry of Interior and Prosecutor's Office is also formed.
• 19 August 1991: Separatist authorities proclaim an exceptional situation at Tiraspol and Tighina. Dniester guards are patrolling the cities and roads are blocked. Transnistrian leaders ask the local population to support the coup which is currently underway in Moscow.
• In the aftermath of the failure of the Soviet coup attempt of 1991, on 27 August 1991, the Moldovan parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova. The PMR interpreted this as meaning that the 1940-merger of the two sides of the Dniester river was dissolved.
• 29 August 1991, Transnistria's independence leader Igor Smirnov and three other deputies arrived in Kiev to meet the Ukrainian leader Leonid Kravchuk. Several separatists leaders, including Igor Smirnov, Andrei Cheban and G. Pologov, are arrested by Moldova's police and immediately transported to a prison in Moldova. In protest, the women's strike committee headed by Galina Andreeva blocked the Moscow-Chişinău railway line at a waypoint between Bender and Tiraspol, until the arrested were freed by the president of Moldova Mircea Snegur in an attempt to quell the spirits.
• 6 and 18 September 1991: Separatist authorities order all military units of the Soviet Union in the region to obey the jurisdiction of Transnistria.
• 10–20 September 1991: At the instigation of the Odessa military district leadership a general assembly of officers and non-commissioned officers from the Soviet Army in Transnistria is held. On this occasion, an agreement is expressed to support Transnistrian separatism, independent of any orders from Moscow.
• 11 September 1991: The Russian military unit 03517 from Rîbniţa decides to defend the Transnistrian Republic.
• 19 September 1991:A Police unit in Rîbniţa is captured by separatists.
• 22 September 1991: A Police unit in Camenca is captured by separatists.
• 2 October 1991: Tiraspol city Executive Committee issues a decision asking the local police force to refuse to cede authority to the authorities in Chişinău.
• 16 October 1991: At Dubăsari, an explosion occurs at the police station, which is still loyal to the authorities in Chişinău.
• 8 November 1991: The newspaper "Nezavismaya Moldova" publishes facts about human rights abuses in Transnistria: namely, explosions, burning of the homes of people who refuse to accept the separatist authorities, threats against the family of policeman Vladimir Colesnic (the second in command of the Dubăsari police unit which refused to accept the separatist authority) and the situation of the refugees.
• 15 November 1991: In Tighina and Dubăsari people are forbidden to subscribe to Romanian language newspapers from Chişinău.
• 19 November 1991: Weaponry and ammunition is transferred from the 14th Soviet Army unit to the separatist authorities.
• 21 November 1991: Authorities from Tiraspol forbid local businesses to collaborate with the National Bank of Moldova.
• 26–30 November 1991: Transnistrian guard from Rîbniţa receive weapons and ammunition from the 14th Soviet Army unit based at Colbasna.
• 27 November 1991: In the local authority's building in Teia (Transnistria) village (Grigoriopol district) 6 people from Tiraspol (2 with automatic guns) force the local authority to organise a ballot for the election of the Transnistrian president. The same situation occurs in other areas in Transnistria.
• 27 November 1991: A delegation from the International Helsinki Committee for Human Rights visit Moldova. Igor Smirnov refuses to participate in the meeting in Tiraspol with the foreign visitors.
• 27 November 1991: "Trudovoi Tiraspol", a newspaper run by OSTK, publishes a list detailing the names and addresses of Moldovan policemen from Transnistria who refuse to obey the separatist authorities and ask for reprisals against them.
• 1 December 1991: A group of around 20-25 people (6 of them with automatic guns) enter the village of Mălăieşti in Grigoriopol district and petition the election officials from the Transnistrian authorities. However, the local villagers refuse to participate in elections. Meanwhile, the same incidents occur in Speia, Butor and Taşlîc.
• 1–5 December 1991: All the bridges over the Dniester are blocked by separatist forces.
• 5 December 1991: Viktor Malic, an assistant at the Soviet Union's Ministry of the Interior, (in an interview with "Nezavisimaia Moldova") reveals that as, the result of research done by the Soviet Union's Prosecutor's Office - regarding the events in 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari - the Transnistrian authorities had acted unlawfully and Moldovan police acted within their legal limits.
• 6 December 1991: A group of armed separatists order the Slobozia police unit to accept the jurisdiction of Transnistria. The commander of this police unit is beaten and prevented from accessing his local force.
• 6 December 1991: Transnistrian guards open fire on a car belonging to the Moldovan police at the bridge over Dniester at Gura Bâcului. The policeman, N. Dociu, is wounded.
• 8 December 1991: L. Toderaş, the prosecutor of Tighina city, is arrested by separatists and interrogated at OSTK.
• 8 December 1991: 700 Transnistrian guards and cossacks, armed with bren guns, armoured carriers and grenade throwers (and all received from Russian 14th Army) mass at the outskirts of Dubăsari. The police receive an ultimatum to swear allegiance to the Transnistrian Republic.
• 9 December 1991: A police unit from Tighina are visited by a group of separatists (headed by Kogut from Tiraspol) and inform the local commandant, V. Gusleacov, that he is being dismissed from his position. The separatists also ask him to give them the keys and all relevant documents to the newly appointed police chief. Gusleacov refused, and the police unit is then surrounded by Transnistrian guards. Tighina policemen who later attend this incident are arrested and disarmed. The building housing the local Transport Police is subsequently attacked and all vehicles are confiscated. The local police are aided by people from nearby villages such as Varniţa, Chircăieşti, Ursoaia forcing the Transnistrian guard to withdraw.
• 10 December 1991: Near the village Lunga, 5 Transnistrian guards stop a car with policeman A. Ismailov inside. The guards take Ismailov out of the car, beat him and confiscate his gun.
• 10 December 1991: S. Trocin and V. Oprea are arrested in Tighina and imprisoned for several days in a basement simply because they spoke Romanian in a Sovetskaia street.
• 11 December 1991: Elections are held for the position of President of Transnistria.
• On the night of 12 to 13 December 1991: The Police station in Dubăsari is besieged by separatists forces. 35 policemen are in the building and all receive death threats.
• 13 December 1991: A group of policemen are sent to assist the besieged Dubăsari police station but are attacked with bren guns. 4 policemen are killed in this incident; Ghenadie Iablocikin, Mihail Arnăut, Valentin Mereniuc and Gheorghe Caşu.
• 13 December 1991: At Tighina, a reporter from Moldovan television is arrested and his camera confiscated. He is later freed after the Moldovan police intervene.
• 14 December 1991: In Dubăsari, shots are fired at electrician A. Terentiev and against a truck belonging to the regional Soviet (which had refused to accept separatism). The truck driver, V. Chiriac, and his passenger, are wounded.
• 14 December 1991: Policemen S. Lopatiuc and V. Dorofenco are taken hostage by separatists. They are hospitalized after being beaten.
• 14 December 1991: The newspaper "Drujba" from Grigoriopol, which voiced opinions against separatism, is closed by the Transnistrian authorities. A local radio station is also attacked.
• 15 December 1991: The Moldovan president, Mircea Snegur, meets with Igor Smirnov.
• 21 December 1991: Igor Smirnov is elected an honorary cossack
• 27 December 1991: Access to the building housing the regional Dubăsari Soviet (which had refused to accept separatism) is blocked by the Transnistrian authorities.