[alxlaz]

"History" might be a thing but Moldova has not been part of the USSR for more than 30 years now, and has been part of the Russian Empire for only about a hundred years (after the peace of 1812 and until shortly after the first World War). It was one of the shortest-lived imperial possessions.

> Also a good portion of the population identifies as Russian.

Said "good portion" is about 4%, according to the latest census [1]. Balti is the only municipality with a substantial Russian population. USSR politics means that much of the Moldavian population speaks Russian (tl;dr you had to learn it at school and were generally forced to use it in any public setting) but only a small minority of the Moldavian population "identifies" as Russian.

Pre-emptive "but ackshually": 1. nothing wrong with identifying as Russian, this is a comment on population statistics 2. the census was conducted the same year that a pro-Russian administration was voted into power so yes, the statistics are perfectly representative, no one had second thoughts about saying they were Russian.

1. https://statistica.gov.md/en/population-and-housing-census-i... .

[ossobuco]

The south of Italy still has leftovers of Arabic cultural influence from the Arab occupation in the VIII century. That lasted about 300 years but we're talking about a millenium ago, so it's perfectly reasonable to consider Moldova as culturally influenced by Russia, even if just for the geographical proximity.

[alxlaz]

Certainly, but that doesn't make Moldova either Russian or part of Russia, as the parent poster asked, just like the south of Italy is neither Arabic nor part of whatever Arab country you want to take as the successor state of the last Arabic sovereign of Sicilly (Egypt?).

Moldova is still culturally very distinct from Russia and many other former Soviet republics, so the odds of something being true in Moldova just because it's true in Russia are in fact remarkably small. In particular, "vodka" is not a common generic term for alcohol-based drinks in most of Moldova, whether that's true in Russia or not.

[throwaway7ahgb]

People not born in ex-USSR countries will not understand these statements, especially today.

There are many countries where Russian is spoken as a language and when people identify as "russian" it is mostly the traditions and history. It has nothing to do with geopolitics.

It is language, religion, family values, holidays, food, celebrations, traditions, etc.... This is what is meant by identifying as Russian.

[alxlaz]

This is wishful thinking at its finest.

First off, lots of people in the former Soviet Republics (and beyond the Iron Curtain in general) speak Russian because that's what they had to learn in school and what they were forced to use in some public settings. Speaking Russian has absolutely nothing to do with religion, family values, holidays, food, celebration and traditions.

Second, the USSR didn't have a monopoly on the Christian Orthodox religion. Moldova, in particular, was predominantly orthodox centuries before it was occupied by the Russian empire in 1812. The shared religion, and the consequent values (including family values), celebrations and traditions have nothing to do with Russia.

Third, people don't need Internet randos to tell them what it means to be Russian. There's a very simple way to figure out if the "identify as Russian": you ask people if they identify as Russian, if they say yes, then they identify as Russian, if they say no, then they don't. As of 2014, that's true of about 4% of Moldova's population. Telling the other 96% that they're actually Russian is exactly what gets people angry about these things.