There are about 80 kilograms of explosive material in the remnants of a missile detected on Saturday, January 14, in the area of the Larga border sector, Briceni district, say representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), urging people not to approach the security zone where the explosives were discovered.

“The IGPF (General Inspectorate of the Border Police) and IGP (General Police Inspectorate) documentation task force detected the explosive warhead of the missile crashed on the national territory during the on-site investigation. Following the detection of the explosive, the bomb disposal team of the Codru Independent Battalion of the National Army was requested for extensive examination and determination of the joint intervention mode to remove the danger.

At the same time, due to the risks generated by the existence of explosives, the protection area has been increased, and teams of the national police and border police are taking special measures and ensuring the security perimeter, so that there is no danger to the population,” the Interior Ministry points out.

According to MAI, access to the area where the detonation of the explosives will take place has been blocked.

“During this morning, police patrols informed the residents of Pavlovca and Larga to keep their distance and not to approach the security zone imposed by the authorities for protection. Access to the area where the detonation will take place has also been blocked. The Ukrainian authorities have also been informed about the existence of explosives from the crashed missile warhead. According to preliminary data, the missile warhead is fuelled by about 80 kilograms of explosive material,” ministry representatives said.

Russia launched a second wave of rockets into Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, 14 January, forcing people to take cover as sirens blared across the country, just hours after the morning airstrikes hit critical infrastructure in Kiev and the eastern city of Kharkov.

Following Russia’s massive bombing of Ukraine, a border police patrol discovered the remnants of a missile from Russia’s air strikes on Ukraine in the Larga border sector (Briceni district).

“Due to the bombings over Ukraine, the IGPF implemented the contingency plan and increased the number of police patrols on the border area with Ukraine, with observation of the airspace and the green strip of the border with Ukraine.

Once the debris of the alleged rocket was discovered, immediate action was taken to protect the area and the 112 emergency service and the IGP Bombteh teams were notified. The Prosecutor’s Office of Briceni district was also notified. IGSU (General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations) and Border Police are securing the perimeter and preparing assistance for the investigation and verification teams of the IGP Bombteh and the Prosecutor’s Office,” MAI points out.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Defence announced that the air surveillance systems of the National Army did not detect any overflights of Moldova’s airspace.