text: On 17 March 2024, Transnistrian official press released a video allegedly showing a Mil Mi-8 helicopter in poor condition and likely not in use, not having been moved in over 13 years at the moment of the explosion, in a military unit in Tiraspol being attacked and destroyed by a kamikaze drone. No victims were reported. Transnistria claimed the drone had been launched from Ukraine from the direction of Odesa, more precisely from a bridge located  from the nearest border crossing between Transnistria and Ukraine. Ukraine immediately denied having anything to do with the incident. On the day of the incident, the Bureau for Reintegration of the Republic of Moldova called it an "attempt to provoke panic and fear in the region". Later, on 25 March, the bureau confirmed the explosion of the helicopter was not caused by a drone attack but by "other factors" and that the video contained "obvious elements of video montage". In the video, the drone disappears shortly before the explosion below the helicopter occurs. Reportedly, explosives placed under the helicopter were detonated remotely instead.
  Geography and climate
  Tiraspol features a humid continental climate that closely borders an oceanic climate and has transitional features of the humid subtropical climate due to its warm summers. Summers are mild, with average monthly temperatures at around  in July and August. Winters are cold, with average temperatures in the coldest month (January) at . Precipitation is relatively evenly spread throughout the year, though there is a noticeable increase in monthly precipitation in June and July. Tiraspol on average sees nearly  of precipitation per year.
  Demographics
  Population
  The population of the city was about 190,000 in 1989 and about 203,000 in 1992. 41% were Russians, 32% Ukrainians (both Eastern Slavic) and 18% were Moldovans (Romanians).