[Verginius Rufus]

I'm not sure but I would guess they regarded the Moldovans as a separate ethnic group from Romanians. Even before Bessarabia was re-annexed in 1940, there was an "autonomous republic of Moldavia" in Soviet Ukraine (probably identical to the current separatist area).

There's another group in the area, the Gagauz, who are Orthodox Christians but speak a language of the Turkish family. They are apparently found in Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria...a fairly small group.

Moldova must not be confused with Moldava, the Spanish name for the Moldau or Vltava, the river which flows through Prague (as in Smetana's Die Moldau).

[Jacob Kell]

Didn't the Soviets claim that the Moldavians were Slavs, or at least part Slav?