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.
Ukraine rejected the claims as a Russian "provocation", the latest in a series of allegations, claims and counterclaims as tensions rise in the territory, which is 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 has prevented a terrorist attack," the Transdniestria ministry said in a statement. "On the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine, a crime was being prepared against a number of officials. The suspects have been detained."
In response, the SBU Security Service of Ukraine said the accusation "should be considered exclusively as a provocation orchestrated by the Kremlin".
Its statement 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."
The self-styled president of Transdniestria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, later appeared on television, saying the thwarted attack had aimed not only to kill local leaders but also a maximum of residents of Tiraspol, the region's main town.
"The terrorist act was aimed at doing away with officials but not only that," he said. "The intent was mass killing of people."
He said six people posing as Ukrainian refugees had been arrested and a car containing explosives recovered.
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 in February last year 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.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Gareth Jones, Ron Popeski and Grant McCool)
