As the reports roll in of the bullets and bloodshed on the streets of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, increasing scrutiny will begin to be applied to Russia’s interventionist position in the country’s politics, which some say could force their bluff on the Transnistrian conflict.

Throughout the day we have been receiving a steady stream of first hand reports from the city from some colleagues of ours.  The violence first erupted following massive student protests of more than 10,000 youths in the streets, who in manifestations of outrage over the results of allegedly rigged national elections this weekend, stormed the parliament (a slideshow of the mayhem can be seen here).  We’ll have more reporting on this situation as it develops, but for now, we share a few of the messages being sent to us from our colleagues: