How Bendery knocked out the teeth of the Moldovan army
On June 19, 1992, the key battle of the Transnistrian armed conflict began - the battle for Bender. In Wikipedia, this event is described as follows: "the battles between the Transnistrian forces, on the one hand, and supporters of the territorial integrity of Moldova." Territorial Integrity Advocates - Awesome Formulation! However, it hardly fits with Romanian unionism, the Popular Front of Moldova, the language reform and other events of 1989-1992, in which the valiant defenders of Moldovan sovereignty were directly involved.
Let's omit historical and political aspects: a separate article is needed to describe these processes. It is important to note that the Chisinau fighters were not ambassadors of freedom and justice, which are often presented by some authors writing about the uniqueness of the Moldovan case. In fact, in the late 80s, Moldova had practically the same set of problems as in any other union republic. The ideas of nationalism gradually gained popularity. The Popular Front of Moldova moved from the streets to parliament, the new political elite promoted a nationalist agenda, with which not everyone in the country was in agreement.
The armed conflict gradually gained momentum. For a long time, no one wanted to enter into dialogue with Tiraspol in Chisinau. The issue had to be resolved by force, while not attracting too much attention.
After the failure in Dubossary, Moldova needed its own Archduke to start a new battle. Major Igor Yermakov became them involuntarily. The Moldovan policemen detained the major in front of the printing house. The TMR guards came to the aid of Ermakov, and a firefight ensued. During a street fight, cameraman Valery Vozdvizhensky, who arrived with the PMR forces, was killed (someone was greatly hampered by the filming of what was happening).
Having committed a provocation that led to the shedding of blood of the civilian population, the Moldovan police "suddenly" realized that they needed help. Chisinau responded immediately to the request of the chief commissioner for help. Already at 19:30, armored vehicles left the village of Khadzhimus; they were supposed to enter the city from the south. 2 artillery batteries passed through Varnitsa in order to control the north of the city.
The Moldovan side showed an amazing level of readiness (which once again confirms that the entire operation was planned). The commander of the not-so-ready PMR guard was Stefan Florovich Kitsak, who graduated from Moscow State University and served in Budapest, Tashkent, Kabul (in Afghanistan, he was deputy chief of staff of the 40th combined-arms army). Kitsak ordered that the available forces be drawn into the city. The PMR guard, obviously, having fewer people, equipment and weapons, squeezed the maximum out of resources. AGS was installed on the MTLB armored personnel carrier, and the BAT tractor was used as a ram. During the battles BAT under the control of a sergeant of the TSO platoon A. Gulienko "sentenced" 2 Moldovan armored personnel carriers. Then they were used by the PMR guards.
Bloody battles began in the city.
The army of Moldova had a huge resource advantage, which it realized when entering the city. A group of Moldovan soldiers, entering from the North-West, quickly reached the center of Bender. On the city streets, the Moldovan numerical advantage played a lesser role, in contrast to the detachment of Cossacks with grenade launchers, who were ready for such conditions. The Cossacks, under the command of Ataman Semyon Makarovich Driglov, broke into the city to the aid of the PMR guards and defended the city executive committee. In this battle, many of them died, including the chieftain himself.
V. Belov:
“Driglov's guys fought near the square, we took up a position behind the executive committee in the building of the communications center. At night, a convoy of vehicles and equipment stopped nearby. Apparently, the vehicles contained ammunition for the group that defended the bridge, and the silhouettes of anti-aircraft guns loomed among the vehicles. We took up positions near the windows overlooking the intersection of st. Suvorov and st. Sergei Lazo, and opened fire. Shells hissed into one of the vehicles. Other soldiers started firing machine guns at the gas tanks. The entire convoy flared up, ammunition in the bodies exploded and flew in all directions. It was a real hell. "
Moldovan soldiers (together with the Romanian "militias") took control of almost the entire city, but they could not completely clear Bendery from the PMR forces. The heaviest fighting took place in the area of the strategically important bridge, which was the aorta for Bender.
The PMR guardsmen and the women's strike committee received several armored vehicles from the 14th Army. To recapture the bridge, they climbed onto the equipment, after which the armored vehicles drove onto the bridge and crushed the Moldovan units. The Moldovan ranks were not ready for such a massive resistance (several attacks had already been repulsed with the help of the Rapier), were not coordinated to retreat and “collapsed” chaotically.
The picture of the battle changed dramatically, the PMR guards won an important victory, the Moldovan army had only to regularly shell the city. And on June 23, the Moldovan side decided to destroy the bridge, since they could not recapture it. To accomplish this task, 3 MiG-29 aircraft with high-explosive bombs were used, but the shells hit houses in the village of Parcani.
By habit, Chisinau attributed its failure in Bendery to Russia and the Fourteenth Army. During the battle, some soldiers of the 14th Army did indeed help the TMR guardsmen, but clearly not according to the "official decree of the Kremlin." In addition, in Chisinau, the merits of the Romanian "militias" could also be noted, who, apparently, did not help the Moldovan army insufficiently. But they forgot about it.
The battle for Bender will never be forgotten.
The battle claimed hundreds of lives, both from the side of the Guard of Transnistria and from the side of the Moldovan army. Moreover, as in most conflicts in the post-Soviet space, a huge number of civilians died. Some residents of Bender lost their homes, others left.
Bendery became the citadel of Transnistria, which Moldovan nationalists could not pass. After June 23, Russia's help in resolving the situation became closer and closer.
General Lebed was eager to get down to business, to guard the statehood. However, this is a completely different story.
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