MApN’s reaction after Russian propaganda claimed that it was following the presence of the Romanian Army in the Republic of Moldova

The Ministry of National Defense denied this information on Tuesday evening. Officials explained that the footage shows a military technical convoy returning from the multinational exercise “Zimbrul 22”, held between October 3-12.

The full message published by Russian propaganda

“Our followers reported that, on October 14, a train with military equipment of the Romanian Armed Forces passed from the Romanian city of Iași in the direction of Moldova.

The images show more than ten armed vehicles, including Piranha IIIC, B33, TAV-77 armored vehicles, as well as several trucks and a mobile radar.

At the moment, the “Joint Combined Exchange Training-2022” (JCET) exercises are taking place on the territory of Moldova, where the participation of British military personnel is also announced. Most likely the equipment is transferred as part of this event.

However, JCET-2022 consists of training of forces and special operations units. And gathering such a quantity of weapons raises questions.

Taking into account the anti-government protests in Chisinau and their violent dispersal, as well as Maia Sandu’s statements about the negotiations with “partner countries” regarding the rearming of the Moldovan Army, it is very likely that the Romanian equipment arrived with a completely different purpose.

The tensions in Moldova grew against the background of dissatisfaction with both the internal and the external policy of the Sandu administration. The forceful dispersal of the protesters further aggravated the situation and put Moldova at risk of civil war.

And the thesis about the need to restore control over Transnistria, which is dispersed in the Western mass media, creates even more premises for an armed conflict”, is the full text published by the Rybar Telegram account.

MApN reaction

“Training activities of the Romanian Army soldiers in training grounds in the country, falsely presented as being carried out in the Republic of Moldova.

We signal the emergence of a new misinformation regarding the so-called presence of the Romanian military in training activities in the Republic of Moldova, which appeared on Telegram channels affiliated with Russian propaganda. One of the videos included in these posts shows a convoy of military vehicles of the Romanian Army, which are falsely claimed to be either returning from or heading to the Republic of Moldova.

In fact, the images show a column of military equipment of the 15th Mechanized Brigade “High Bridge” from Iasi, returning from the multinational exercise “ZIMBRUL 22”, held between October 3-12 in the Secondary Combat Training Center “Smârdan”, Galati county. Romanian, American and Polish soldiers participated in the exercise, which was planned a year before.

After the exercise was completed, the participating soldiers, equipment and military equipment returned to their home garrisons either by rail or by road. The column from the video images was boarded on the train platforms in the station in the town of Şendreni, Galați county, Romania, and they traveled to Iași.

We also remind you that, on October 18 and 19, the personnel and equipment of the 2nd “Călugăreni” Infantry Battalion that participated in the “Călugăreni 22” exercise, also held in the “Smârdan” Secondary Combat Training Center, will move, on the railway and on wheels, towards the peace deployment garrison, Bucharest”, MApN said on Facebook.