Transnistria (officially per its authorities Pridnestrovie) is a territory within the internationally recognized boundaries of the Republic of Moldova in eastern Europe. Transnistria declared its independence as a separatist republic on September 2, 1990 (as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic) and subsequent to the collapse of the Soviet Union has exercised de facto control over most of the Transnistrian region. Its independence has not been recognized, and its legal status continues to be an issue of contention.

Transnistria, during World War II, was an occupied region of the USSR, under control of Romania during the maximum eastward expansion of the Axis Powers 1941-1944. It included present-day Transnistria and some territories further east, including the Black Sea port of Odessa, which became the capital of this WWII Transnistria.