Dubasari District
Frozen conflict epicenter since 1990; six communes remain Moldovan islands in separatist territory, Corjova village literally divided by de facto border.
The war that froze Moldova's eastern border began in Dubăsari on 2 November 1990, when pro-Transnistrian forces clashed with Moldovan police. Three decades later, the village of Corjova remains literally divided by a de facto border running through its streets. Six communes—Cocieri, Molovata Nouă, Corjova, Pîrîta, Coșnița, and Doroțcaia—stayed under Moldovan control after the 1992 ceasefire, islands of Chișinău's authority surrounded by separatist-controlled territory.
The district's strategic geography made it a target: control Dubăsari, and Transnistria splits in two. This is why fighting centered here, and why the M4 highway through Doroțcaia and Cocieri became a de facto frontier. Farmers in Moldovan-controlled villages have faced periodic PMR blockades when trying to reach fields on the highway's eastern side. The town of Dubăsari itself—23,650 people on the Dniester's left bank—remains under separatist administration, while the Moldovan district capital relocated to Cocieri.
By 2026, Russian military presence in Transnistria and Moldova's EU accession negotiations will determine whether this frozen conflict thaws or hardens. The 1362 documentary record of Corjova village predates every state that has claimed this territory—Moldova, Romania, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and now the unrecognized PMR. The land remembers longer than borders.