Breakaway Moldovan region says it foiled Ukraine plot against leader

Local security services in the Moscow-backed breakaway Transdniestria region of Moldova said on Thursday they had thwarted a Ukrainian assassination attempt against the region's leader, Russian state news agencies reported. Kyiv rejected the claims as a Kremlin "provocation", the latest in a series of allegations, claims and counterclaims over escalating tensions in the territory, wedged along Ukraine's southwestern border with Moldova.

Local security services in the Moscow-backed breakaway Transdniestria region of Moldova said on Thursday they had thwarted a Ukrainian assassination attempt against the region's leader, Russian state news agencies reported.

Kyiv rejected the claims as a Kremlin "provocation", the latest in a series of allegations, claims and counterclaims over escalating tensions in the territory, wedged along Ukraine's southwestern border with Moldova. It was not immediately clear whether the Transdniestrian officials had provided evidence to support their claim.

"The ministry of state security informs about the prevention of a terrorist attack. On the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine, a crime was being prepared against a number of officials. The suspects have been detained," the Russian state-run TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying. In response, the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement that the accusation "should be considered exclusively as a provocation orchestrated by the Kremlin".

It added: "Lies and provocations are the weapons (Russia) actively uses. But today the entire world sees the true face of the aggressor country and does not believe the statements of Russia or its satellites." Transdniestria, a mainly Russian-speaking territory which borders Ukraine, broke from Moldova's control in 1990, a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and is dependent on Russian support. Its allegiance to Moscow and location on Ukraine's western border have been a constant cause of concern since Russia invaded that the war could spread to the region.

Last month, Russia accused Ukraine of planning to invade Transdniestria after staging a 'false flag' operation there, a claim Kyiv denied. Moldova also rejected Russia's claim. Moscow also said it would view as an attack on itself any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers stationed in Transdniestria.