[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.