The Soviet Union's last outpost — a country the world doesn't recognise
Tiraspol is the capital of Transnistria, a breakaway state on Moldova's eastern border that declared independence in 1990 but is recognised by no UN member state. Crossing the Dniester River into Transnistria is crossing into a pocket of preserved Soviet Union — Lenin statues, hammer-and-sickle flags, its own currency (the Transnistrian ruble, useless outside), and a passport control manned by soldiers in WWII-style uniforms. It is one of the world's most genuinely unusual travel experiences: peaceful, safe for visitors, and utterly unlike anywhere else.
Transnistria was part of the Moldavian SSR under Soviet rule. When Moldova declared independence in 1991, the predominantly Russian-speaking eastern strip fought a brief but bloody war of secession (1992), backed by the Russian 14th Army still stationed there. A ceasefire left Transnistria in a permanent frozen conflict — effectively Russian-backed but neither Russian nor Moldovan. The Tiraspol government runs its own Soviet-style economy, complete with a state-owned cognac factory (Kvint) whose brandy is the main export.