"Control over the south of Ukraine is another way to Transdniestria, where there is also evidence that the Russian-speaking population is being oppressed," TASS quoted Minnekayev as saying at a meeting in Russia's central Sverdlovsk region.

Moldova's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to express "deep concern" about the remarks.

"These statements are unfounded and contradict the position of the Russian Federation supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic of Moldova," it said on its website.

Kyiv earlier this month said that an airfield in the Transdniestria region was being prepared to receive aircraft and be used by Moscow to fly in Ukraine-bound troops, allegations that Moldova's defence ministry and authorities in Transdniestria denied.

Minnekayev was not cited as providing any evidence for or details of the alleged oppression in Transdniestria.


He was quoted as saying that Russia planned to forge a land corridor between Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which it annexed in 2014, and Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
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