No, this is not a geography test. It's just a link to a good article by Michel Radu that describes another one of those remote, disputed regions, like Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that could well be the next object of Russian Prime Minister Putin's attention.
Moldova is the former Bessarabia, next door to Romania and with a largely Romanian population. It was incorporated into the Soviet Union after World War II and is now an independent country, with a seat at the UN and all the other trappings, although not much else to brag about. Transnistria is its 'breakaway' province, populated mostly by Slavs, along Moldova's eastern border with Ukraine.
Transnistria comes complete with Russian 'peacekeepers' who have been there since 1993. It functions largely as a Russian smugglers' paradise and tool for exerting pressure on Moldova. According to a recent news article, the 18 Russian tanks in Transnistria could reach Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, in 30 minutes.
There seem to be few good options for resolving the status of Transnistria, but if you read this article, at least you will know what the issues are when that crisis erupts.
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