You're thinking of Transnistria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria The history of that area is complex. Mol

You're thinking of Transnistria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria The history of that area is complex. Moldova itself was part of the Ottoman Empire, then it was ceded to the Russian Empire, united with Romania, then the whole are became part of the USSR... and after the dissolution of the USSR, Transnistria became an unregognized, but de facto autonomous "country". Moldovians see the area as still part of Moldova (with some still considering the whole country as part of Romania!). The EU sees it as a Russian-occupied area since Russia supports the local government, and without Russian support the Moldavian Government would've probably taken over the area already (it's a frozen conflict area... Eastern Ukraine is headed for the same destiny, it seems).