Alleged Drone Attack Fuels Tension between Pro-West Moldova, Russia-Run Enclave

Tensions have mounted between Moldova’s pro-Western government and the Russian-administered enclave of Transnistria following an alleged drone attack in Tiraspol, Transnistria’s regional capital. Straddling the lower reaches of the Dniester River, Transnistria has been administered by Moscow since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Only 1,600 square miles in size, the enclave is home to some 250,000 Russian nationals—and an estimated 1,500 Russian troops—despite being internationally recognized as part of Moldova. Relations between Transnistria and Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, have long been characterized by mutual hostility and suspicion. Earlier this week, Transnistrian authorities claimed an aerial drone had struck an airfield in Tiraspol, which sits only six miles west of the border with Ukraine....