#Exhibit of the Month

The work In Memoriam. In Memory of the Heroes Who Fell at the Nistru (1992) was developed within the Center for Culture and Military History and published under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the Bureau for Reintegration, and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova. Authors: Gheorghe Bălan, Vitalie Ciobanu, Gheorghe Cojocaru.

This work provides a retrospective of the events that led to the outbreak of the war on the Nistru, accompanied by photographs of the heroes who lost their lives in the battles to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.

On March 2, 1992, the political conflict in the Nistru region escalated into a true fratricidal war. Under the fabricated pretext of "defending Russia's southern borders," political adventurers from the former Soviet metropolis encouraged Transnistrian separatism by arming secessionist paramilitary groups. At the same time, thousands of mercenary Cossacks and prisoners released early from jails, along with tanks and missiles, were sent against Independent Moldova, in a desperate attempt to revive the fallen empire.

Russia's undeclared war against the Republic of Moldova left behind hundreds of dead and wounded, shattered families, and villages in ruins. More than 50,000 peaceful residents from the conflict zone were forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge from the horrors of war.

For the sake of freedom and the future, Moldova's defenders faced death, enduring the hardships and humiliations of war.

During the Nistru war, 198 soldiers of the National Army and 89 personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs lost their lives, while 40 combatants went missing without a trace, and nearly 300 were left disabled.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“War on the Dniester”

March 2 - 21, 2021

March 2, 2021 marks the 29th anniversary of the outbreak of armed conflict in the eastern districts of the Republic of Moldova, a conflict provoked by political adventurers and pro-imperialist revenge forces of the former Soviet empire.

Under the invented pretext of "defending Russia's southern borders", they encouraged Transnistrian separatism, armed paramilitary guards, and sent thousands of mercenary Cossacks, criminals released from prisons, tanks, and Alazan missiles, hoping that with their help they will be able to revive the lost empire.

On March 2, 1992, when the President of the Republic of Moldova Mircea Snegur delivered, in the plenary session of the UN General Assembly, the speech of thanks on the occasion of the reception of the Republic of Moldova in the United Nations, groups of guards and Cossacks armed with submachine guns and armored vehicles stormed the headquarters of the Dubăsari district police station. There were the first fallen. To the south, in Vulcăneşti, another armed group attacks the district police headquarters. The same happens, simultaneously, in Tighina, Grigoriopol and Cocieri... Among the first to fall on duty then are: lieutenant-colonel Mihai Moraru, commissioner of the Hânceşti district police station; Iurie Bodiu, Valentin Slobozenco, Tudor Buga, Sergiu Ostaf, Vitalie Păvăluc, Victor Lavrentsov, Russian of nationality, a native of Tighina; Boris Dovgani from Pârâta, Serghei Culaţchi, the son-in-law of the brave fighter General Anton Gămurari... The lifeless bodies of Sergeant V. Purice and driver N. Galben from Tighina were taken from the waters of the Dniester.

Thus, the political conflict in the Dniester area degenerated into a real fratricidal war. Peaceful people were being attacked, entire villages were being held under Cossack fire, and more than 50,000 peaceful inhabitants of the Dniester area were forced to leave their homes, saving themselves from the scourge of war.

The ordeal begun in Dubăsari left behind hundreds of dead and crippled, orphans, widows, mothers with souls hardened by grief; it caused immeasurable material damage and loss on both banks of the Dniester.

More detailed sketches and chronicles of those dramatic events can be found in various sources: albums, monographs, collections of documents, memoirs, newspaper reports.

The commemorative exhibition "War on the Dniester" is also an attempt to reconstruct the reality of the Dniester tragedy.

It was conceived as a tribute to all participants in the struggles for the defense of the integrity and independence of the Republic of Moldova and, first of all, to those who sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom of the Fatherland.

The exhibition brings together shocking images made in the conflict area by photojournalists T. Iovu, N. Pojoga, M. Vengher, A. Mardare, S. Voronin, T. Anghel, and others. The images reconstruct the ordeal that Moldavian defenders went through in the battles of Dubăsari and Tighina, on the plateaus of Cocieri and Coşniţa, immortalized the heroism and manhood of Moldavian police and volunteers, the hardships and humiliations of war, destroyed families, houses and villages, faces of women and children contorted by the pain of losing loved ones.

A special section of the exhibition is dedicated to the fallen fighters in defense of the independence and integrity of the Republic of Moldova.

The exhibition "War on the Dniester" was organized on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the outbreak of the armed conflict on the Dniester and is dedicated to all defenders of the integrity and independence of the Republic of Moldova.