Ministry of State Security (Transnistria)
# Ministry of State Security (Transnistria)

The Ministry of State Security (Romanian: Ministerul Securității Statului, Russian: Министерство государственной безопасности, Ukrainian: Міністерство державної безпеки) is the Transnistrian state security service.

## History

It was formed May 16, 1992 and was headed by Vladimir Antyufeyev up to 2012, until he was replaced by Vladislav Finagin. The ministry is headquartered in Tiraspol. Until January 11, 2017, it was known as the Committee of State Security of the PMR, which was named after the former Soviet KGB.

The headquarters of the ministry were attacked in 2022 while the Russian invasion of Ukraine was taking place. This was part of a series of attacks of unknown authorship that occurred in Transnistria in that year. The perpetrator is unknown, but it is possible that it was a false flag incident orchestrated by Russia or Transnistria.

## Structure

* Territorial security agencies
* Security forces of the Armed Forces of Transnistria
* Service bodies within the ministry
* Support units
* Independent Battalion of Special Operations "Delta"
* Border Detachment
   * Separate Reserve Cossack Border Regiment
* Center for Special Operations

### Border Detachment

The Border Detachment of the MGB tasked with patrol of the regional borders with Moldova and Ukraine. On 14 November 1992, former territorial rescue detachment fighters took the role of protecting of the borders of the republic, along with the Black Sea Cossacks. On 1 March 1993, in the structure of the Ministry of State Security, a reserve cossack regiment was created. The border detachment was formed in September 1993 from the Black Sea Cossacks and soldiers of the TSO. On 14 September 1993, the Border Guard received a battle banner. Today, there are two Cossack border commandant's offices, units of which more than 75% of the personnel are Cossacks.

The border outpost in Bender is named after the Cossack Colonel Driglov, who died defending the during the Transnistria War. Border Guards Day is celebrated on 14 September.

### Independent Battalion of Special Operations "Delta"

The Order of Honor Independent Battalion of Special Operations "Delta" of the Ministry of State Security is a special battalion formed on 31 March 1992 by presidential decree of Igor Smirnov, at the height of the Transnistria War. It is currently subordinate directly to the MGB, and is enlisted in the reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, it currently performs tasks of protecting the national border and fight against terrorism.

In late June of that year, the Delta battalion took part in the Battle in Bender, driving the forces of the Moldovan National Army from the bridge over the Dnister River. On 4 April 1997, the Delta Battalion was awarded the Order of Honor by President Yevgeny Shevchuk. In 2012, the "Delta" battalion was reorganized into the "East" Special Operations Center of the KGB.

## List of leaders

* Vladimir Antyufeyev – September 1992 – December 2011
* Vladislav Finagin – January 24, 2012 – May 17, 2013
* Nikolay Zemstov – October 22, 2013 – May 21, 2014
* Mikhail Lapitsky – May 21, 2014 – June 1, 2017
* Valeriy Gebos - June 1, 2017 – present
