Blasts knock out two radio antennae in Moldova's breakaway region, authorities say

Two radio antennae in the Moldovan breakaway region of Transdniestria have been damaged by blasts, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The incident could fuel tensions in the unrecognised Moscow-backed sliver of land that borders Ukraine's southwestern rim. Russia has had troops permanently based there since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"In the early morning of April 26, two explosions occurred in the village of Maiac, Grigoriopol district: the first at 6:40 and the second at 7:05", the ministry said. It said that two radio antennas were knocked out following the blasts.

No residents were injured, the ministry said.

It said the radio station broadcast Russian radio.

There was no immediate comment from Moldova's foreign ministry.

The incident was the second reported in the region in a matter of hours.

The TSV television station reported on Monday that a series of blasts had torn through the ministry of state security in the capital of Transdniestria. Officials from the breakaway region's interior ministry said the building had been fired on by unknown assailants with grenade launchers, TSV said.