Martishor-1992: Dubossary - the center of tragic events

March 2, 1992 is one of the indelible and most tragic days in the history of the formation of our republic. Moldova started military operations against Pridnestrovie 29 years ago. "Bloody Martishor" was rightfully included in the list of memorable dates of republican significance. Relations between Tiraspol and Chisinau have been tense since the summer of 1989, in the winter of 1991-1992 they worsened, and the Moldovan authorities made another attempt to seize Dubossary and split Pridnestrovie in its geographically narrowest section on March 2, 1992, when people were celebrating the arrival of spring.

On March 2, 1992, the first Head of the Dubossary militia Igor Sipchenko died from wounds received the previous evening under the shelling of Moldovan police. The police station was besieged by Pridnestrovian guards and Cossacks, they disarmed and expelled the police from the city without a single shot. But several more Pridnestrovians died on this day. They are remembered and tribute is paid to the feat every year at meetings in Dubossary. An 18-year-old Don Cossack volunteer Mikhail Zubkov was killed at the police building as a result of a sudden shooting on the spot. The Tiraspol guards died in a battle that ensued near the village of Cociery. The civil defense regiment of the 14th Army of the Russian Federation was stationed there. On March 2, 1992, the Moldovan special forces attacked the Russian unit and seized the communications center and the weapons room. Soldiers of the Republican Guard, some at the cost of their lives, freed the blocked Russian military and their families.

Flower-laying ceremonies in memory of the defenders of the city and the republic who died in the first days of spring 1992 were held today in Dubossary. The Chairman of the Supreme Council of the PMR Alexander Korshunov and deputies of parliament from the city of Dubossary and Dubossary district Oleg Bayev and Boris German took part in the commemorative events.