27 years ago - on March 17, 1992, two weeks after the start of large-scale aggression of Moldova against the young Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic - the Decree of the President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic “On the implementation of the “Temporary provision on the people's militia” entered into force. Thousands of people during the fighting joined the ranks of the people’s militia - civilians from Pridnestrovie who defended the republic. They were people of different age, nationality, social status, but they were all united by one thing - unparalleled courage and readiness to protect their native land at the cost of their own lives. 232 militiamen were killed, more than 200 people were injured, 12 were missing in the battles for the liberation of Pridnestrovie.
Today, the first persons of the state, members of the public, militia members, their relatives and friends, students of the Tiraspol Suvorov Military College, students of the PMR Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense came to the capital Memorial of Glory to pay tribute to the living defenders of Pridnestrovie. On the eve of March 17, the Decree of the PMR President was included in the calendar of memorable dates as the Day of the Militia of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.
Addressing the meeting participants, Vadim Krasnoselsky noted that today, the first time we are marking formation of the Pridnestrovian people's militia as a national holiday. This is correct, but not entirely timely. This should have been done before. The need to create a national militia proved the history itself. Not only in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, but also our big Motherland - in Russia. With the support of the people’s militia Minin and Pozharsky managed to stop the intervention in Russia. It was the people's militia that contributed to the victory of the Soviet people in one of the worst wars - the Great Patriotic War. When the aggression began from the right bank against Pridnestrovie, the people stood up to defend our Motherland. Nobody urged forward. It was free will. Of course, as history shows, there are always persons at the head of the people who are the first to take responsibility and go forward. That time, Igor Nikolayevich Smirnov and his like-minded colleagues were in Pridnestrovie.
The war passed, but as of today, many questions have not received answers, and unresolved problems remain. The saddest thing is that so far Moldovan politicians have not given any political or legal assessment of those events. Those who took part in hostilities against the people of Pridnestrovie are honored as heroes on the right bank. Why is that? The answer is simple. Every nation has its own heroes. In Moldova - their own, in Pridnestrovie - our own. There are those who attacked, we have those who defended. That makes all the difference. We can also recall the crimes of not even military people, but terrorist groups such as the Ilascu group. They did not kill at the front and, in fact, did not see the enemy in person. They shot in the back to civilians who did not hold weapons in their hands. The cynicism is that for the murder of innocent people, these so-called defenders of a holistic Moldova are marked by the highest awards of the neighboring state. Therefore, here we will never understand each other. Of course, one cannot live in the past, but it is important not to forget it. We are committed to dialogue, to solving the problems that affect the lives of people today. No matter how difficult it is, we will move forward. The President wished the veterans of the PMR people’s militia health and well-being. The meeting participants honored killed people’s militiamen with a minute of silence.
Words of gratitude and memories of the events of those years were heard today from the First President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Igor Smirnov and the chairman of the OSTC, the city of Tiraspol, Vladimir Yemelyanov.
Wreaths, baskets and flowers laid to the graves of heroes who at various times defended the Pridnestrovian region, as well as the monuments to the Soldier-Internationalist, the Grieving Mother and the Defenders of Pridnestrovie.
