April 1 is a tragic date in Pridnestrovian history. A special police unit of Moldova invaded peaceful Bendery on this day in 1992. The fire was taken by employees of the City Department of Internal Affairs. Three of the four people in the militia car were killed – Anatoly Petrov, Igor Grek and Gregory Echin. Their colleague Sergei Boyko received multiple injuries. The terrorists, who broke into the city in two armored personnel carriers, shot at a bus with workers of a local factory and a car with guards and militiamen who arrived to help. Victor Taranov, Alexander Barbacari and Sergei Bobuek were killed.
The street where the tragedy occurred was named after Grigory Echin. A memorial chapel with a memorial plaque was installed there. Residents of Bendery, law enforcement officers, public figures, and top government officials gather here to honor the memory of the fallen defenders and victims of Moldovan terror from among civilians, and to support their families and friends every year on April 1. The President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky was among the participants in the rally.
The PMR President spoke about the tragic events that took place on April 1, 1992, about the war unleashed on Pridnestrovian land, and its prerequisites – the collapse of the Soviet Union, rampant nationalism, and the discriminatory language law. "Clashes began to break out then, the bloody events of 1992 took place. They turned to blood. What happened here on April 1, when armed units burst in and shot by and large at civilians is an indicator that these were terrorist acts by special services, by the security forces of a neighboring state. This is true. There was no Russia in this aggression. There could not be. Those politicians of Moldova who claim that Russia has launched an armed aggression here should familiarize themselves with the events of April Fools' Day, Russia's role here. April 1 was a test of strength. A test of how the security forces would react, how the people would react. The main invasion of the city of Bendery took place then – on June 19, 1992," Vadim Krasnoselsky recalled. The PMR President spoke with regret about the fact that even today nationalism is not alien to Moldovan society, whose representatives honor those who killed Pridnestrovians, rehabilitate fascism and Nazism from the Great Patriotic War. The President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic emphasized that these criminal trends are alien to the Pridnestrovian people, who remember history, know the truth and honor true heroes.
The parade units of the Bendery Internal Affairs Department, the Special Motorized Troops Unit, the Law and Military Institutes, the Republican Cadet Corps and the Tiraspol Suvorov Military School marched in a ceremonial march, accompanied by the orchestra of the Tiraspol Law Institute at the end of the rally and the flower-laying ceremony. The banner of the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was carried by the grandson of Gregory Yechin.
