Russia maintains a force of more than 1,500 troops inside Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova with Moscow’s help during a civil war between 1990 and 1992. The local separatist force, estimated at about 20,000, including security services , is interoperable with Kremlin troops, but is believed to be poorly equipped. The bomb threats and plan to join the Russian Federation announced on July 22 by Vitaly Ignatiev, Transnistria’s foreign minister, coincided with a wave of pro-Russian separatism in the autonomous
