The trials of life in Moldovan-run villages in Transnistria

A few villages in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region in Moldova, remain under Moldovan administration. Life is tough in these enclaves.

Moldova claims foreign saboteurs disguised as football fans planned to stage a coup

War spills over to Moldova Sandu has repeatedly expressed concern about Moscow's intentions towards the former Soviet republic and about the presence of Russian troops in the breakaway Trans-Dniester region.

 

Russia cuts off gas to Moldova as it moves toward Europe |

Moldova gets a lot of its gas from Russia. Now, Europe's poorest country is afraid that Russian president Vladimir Putin could cut off supplies this winter, as Moldova moves closer to the European Union.

Will Russia expand its war to the Republic of Moldova?

 

Political tensions are heightening in the Republic of Moldova southwest of Ukraine. The country is barely able to cope with the impact of the war on its doorstep. And there’s a very real fear: will Russia expand its war to Moldovan territory?

The Republic of Moldova and the war in Ukraine

 A series of explosions in Transnistria is ringing alarm bells. Part of the Republic of Moldova, this pro-Russian breakaway region borders Ukraine. With Moscow making veiled threats to intervene militarily, the Republic of Moldova is on edge.

AP: Nuclear Smugglers Shopped Radioactive Materials To ISIS And Other Terrorists

"In the age of the Islamic State, it's especially terrifying to have real smugglers of nuclear bomb material apparently making connections with real buyers."

By DESMOND BUTLER, VADIM GHIRDA

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — In the backwaters of Eastern Europe, authorities working with the FBI have interrupted four attempts in the past five years by gangs with suspected Russian connections that sought to sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists, The Associated Press has learned. The latest known case came in February this year, when a smuggler offered a huge cache of deadly cesium — enough to contaminate several city blocks — and specifically sought a buyer from the Islamic State group.

Criminal organizations, some with ties to the Russian KGB's successor agency, are driving a thriving black market in nuclear materials in the tiny and impoverished country of Moldova, investigators say. The successful busts, however, were undercut by striking shortcomings: Kingpins got away, and those arrested evaded long prison sentences, sometimes quickly returning to nuclear smuggling, AP found.

Moldovan police and judicial authorities shared investigative case files with AP in an effort to spotlight how dangerous the nuclear black market has become. They say the breakdown in cooperation between Russia and the West means that it has become much harder to know whether smugglers are finding ways to move parts of Russia's vast store of radioactive materials — an unknown quantity of which has leached into the black market.

"We can expect more of these cases," said Constantin Malic, a Moldovan police officer who investigated all four cases. "As long as the smugglers think they can make big money without getting caught, they will keep doing it."