CATAN AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA JUDGMENT 43 view of the size of the arsenal stored at Colbaşna, the Russian Army’s military importance in the region and its dissuasive influence persisted. Moreover, in connection with both the arms store and the troops, the Court considers that the historical background has a significant bearing on the position during the period under examination in the present case. It cannot be forgotten that in the Ilaşcu judgment the Court held that the separatists were able to secure power in 1992 only as a result of the assistance of the Russian military. The Colbaşna arms store was originally the property of the USSR’s 14th Army and the Court found it established beyond reasonable doubt that during the armed conflict the separatists were able, with the assistance of 14th Army personnel, to equip themselves from the arms store. The Court further found that the massive transfer to the separatists of arms and ammunition from the 14th Army’s stores was pivotal in preventing the Moldovan army from regaining control of Transdniestria. In addition, the Court found that, from the start of the conflict, large numbers of Russian nationals from outside the region, particularly Cossacks, went to Transdniestria to fight with the separatists against the Moldovan forces. Finally, it found that in April 1992 the Russian Army stationed in Transdniestria (ROG) intervened in the conflict, allowing the separatists to gain possession of Tighina. 119. The Russian Government has not provided the Court with any evidence to show that these findings made in the Ilaşcu judgment were unreliable. In the Court’s view, given its finding that the separatist regime was initially established only as a result of Russian military assistance, the fact that Russia maintained the arms store on Moldovan territory, in breach of its international commitments and shrouded in secrecy, together with 1,000 troops to defend it, sent a strong signal of continued support for the “MRT” regime. 120. As mentioned above, the Court in the Ilaşcu judgment also found that the “MRT” only survived during the period in question by virtue of Russia’s economic support, inter alia (see paragraph 111 above). The Court does not consider that the Russian Government have discharged the burden of proof upon them and established that this finding was incorrect. In particular, it is not denied by the Russian Government that the Russian public corporation Gazprom supplied gas to the region and that the “MRT” paid for only a tiny fraction of the gas consumed, both by individual households and by the large industrial complexes established in Transdniestria, many of them found by the Court to be Russian-owned (see paragraphs 39-40 above). The Russian Government accepts that it spends USD millions every year in the form of humanitarian aid to the population of Transdniestria, including the payment of old age pensions and financial assistance to schools, hospitals and prisons. In the light of the statistic, supplied by the Moldovan Government and undisputed by the Russian Government, that only approximately 20% of the population of the “MRT”