Gareth in Moldova

Since the conflicts of the early 1990s and the ceasefire of 1992, the Transnistria-Moldova border remains guarded by armed Moldovan, Russian and Transnistrian peacekeepers. The situation has been relatively peaceful for the past twenty years, but tensions rose briefly on New Year’s day:
“Vadim Pisar, an 18-year-old Moldovan, passed a Russian-staffed checkpoint on a road toward Chisinau … and when he returned a few minutes later did not react to an order to stop. [A Russian] peacekeeper, who was armed with an assault rifle, fired shots into the air and then at the driver’s side of the man’s car, gravely wounding him in the back. He died in the hospital later that day.”

Moldovan deputy prime minister for reintegration, Eugen Carpov, claims:
“Mr. Pisar was shot from behind after the car was “basically already stopped,” since the peacekeepers had blocked the road with a barrier and one of the car’s tires was punctured. The investigation is hampered by the fact that the Russian side has possession of the weapon, while the Moldovans have the bullet that wounded Mr. Pisar.”

“Around 100 protesters gathered Tuesday near the point where Mr. Pisar was wounded, demanding that the checkpoint and others like it be removed. The protest incapacitated the post for two hours”

SOURCE: New York Times, January 3, 2012