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Lawmakers in Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniestr on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Moscow and the United Nations to recognise its independence. Transdniestr, a strip of land bordering Ukraine, broke away from Romanian-speaking Moldova following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Some analysts suspect Russia is eyeing the territory, which consists mostly of Russian speakers, in the wake of last month's annexation of Crimea. The resolution adopted unanimously by Transdniestr's self-appointed parliament on Wednesday called on the international community to recognise the region as a "sovereign independent state". "According to the universally recognised norms of international...

‘Ukrainian’ drone downed above Moldova’s breakaway region A drone has been shot down over Transdniestr, Moldova’s breakaway region, the region’s security service has reported on its website. On March 23, the pilotless aircraft was photographing and videoing the republic. Transdniestr special services recovered the video record from the drone, the statement says. According to preliminary information, the unmanned aircraft was launched from Ukraine’s soil by a group of people allegedly linked to Ukraine’s security service, the Interior Ministry’s General Staff or supporters of ultra-nationalist movement Right Sector for an intelligence-gathering operation. Currently, Transdniestr’s security service is working on the identification...

AP Voters in Moldova's breakaway Trans-Dniester cast ballots Sunday in a referendum that will determine whether this separatist region should continue pursuing its goal of joining Russia. The region's 390,000 registered voters were expected to overwhelmingly back the initiative, which is supported by all of its political parties. Moldova, which fought a war with the region's Russian-speaking separatists in 1992 that killed some 1,500 people, has said it will not recognize the results. The European Union and the United States are also spurning the plebiscite, which critics warn could set a precedent for pro-Russian separatists in other ex-Soviet republics. Trans-Dniester...

The official Chisinau is in possession of documents indicating that weapons from Transnistria were supplied to Iraq, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin stated to Russian journalists who are paying a 5-day-long working visit to this republic on the Moldovan leadership's invitation. "We have sent to Russia a file with documents on the directions of arms exports from Transnistria. According to the data available with us, 13 Transnistrian industrial enterprises manufacture armaments continuously. We have a document from the Presidential Office of Saddam Hussein's certifying that weapons from Transnistria used to be imported to Iraq. Now we are scrutinizing this", Voronin...

CHISINAU. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev thinks that armaments from Russian stockpiles in Transdniestria might have been shipped to Chechen militants and, probably, Beslan. "Unfortunately, as far as we know, some armaments from the Russian depots in Transdniestria have been sent to Chechnya and some allegedly went to militants in Beslan," he told the Russian press in Chisinau on Thursday. "We must finally eliminate this source of arms for separatists and terrorists," he said.

Moldova said Thursday it was fed up with trying to end its long-running territorial squabble with Transdniestr by dealing directly with the separatist region and instead wanted the United States and the European Union to step in. Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said that henceforth there would be no more negotiations with the separatist authorities because talks between the two have got nowhere. "Negotiations have been unsatisfactory and counterproductive, because while Moldova applies the terms of the agreements signed, Transdniestr ignores them in 99 percent of cases," he said. Transdniestr -- populated mainly by Russian speakers -- unilaterally declared independence from...