Transnistria is a narrow strip of land 450 km long, wedged between the Dniester River to the west and Ukraine to the east. It was part of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic until the fall of the USSR in 1991.
Populated mainly by Russian speakers, the region then seceded from the Republic of Moldova to remain in the Russian fold. 1,500 Russian soldiers are still present there, officially for a peacekeeping mission. The region is also dependent on Russian gas, which it uses in particular to power the country's main electricity plant.