Chițcani (russian: Кицканы, Kitskany; uk, Кіцкань, Kitskan) is a commune in

Căușeni District Căușeni District ( ro, Raionul Căușeni, ) is a district in the central part of Moldova, with the administrative center at Căușeni. The other major city in the district is Căinari. According to the 2014 Moldovan Census, the population of th ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

. It consists of the village ''Chițcani'' and two small villages (hamlets), ''Merenești'' and ''Zahorna''. Chițcani is situated to the south-east of the city of Tighina (Bender). The locality, although situated on the right (western) bank of the river

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and t ...

, is under the control of the breakaway

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

n authorities. On the opposite side of the river lies the city of

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

. Chițcani is one of the oldest recorded villages in

, its history dating back to 1367. The name of the village means "

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to differ ...

s" in

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

. The village is also well known as the home of the Noul Neamț Monastery. The monastery was closed when Moldova was under the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. It was then used as a hospital, a storehouse, then as a makeshift museum. According to the 2004 census, the population of the commune stands at 9,266 people, of which 4,921 ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, 3,153 ethnic

Moldovans Moldovans, sometimes referred to as Moldavians ( ro, moldoveni , Moldovan Cyrillic: молдовень), are a Romance-speaking ethnic group and the largest ethnic group of the Republic of Moldova (75.1% of the population as of 2014) and a sign ...

, and 969 ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

. At the 1930 Romanian Census, there were 4,744 inhabitants in Chițcani, including the 2,456 Romanians, 2,146 Russians, 71

Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sou ...

and

, 35

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, 16

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

, 7

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

, 3

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

, 2

Gagauzians The Gagauz ( gag, Gagauzlar) are a Turkic people living mostly in southern Moldova (Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak). Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians. The term Gagauz is also o ...

, and 8 unclear. 2,426 people named

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

as native language, 2,245 named Russian, 35 named

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

, 27 named

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, 5 named Gypsy, 3 named Bulgarian, 2 named Turkish, and 1 non-declared. At the time, the village was part of ''Plasa Căușani'' of Tighina County. During the 1992 War of Transnistria, especially during the months of June and July, Chițcani was the scene of several gun-battles between the Moldovan police and army on one side, and Transnistrian separatists and Russia's 14th Army on the other side. After the Moldovans have retreated when the war ended, the village was the scene of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Transnistrians, who took revenge on the locals that supported the Moldovan police. According to the

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights The Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. Formerly organized into the Internationa ...

in Moldova, there were some alleged 20 killings between 1996 and 2000. Moldovan authorities have stated that they have no access to the village to investigate these cases, while Transnistrian authorities denied the allegations and refused to investigate.article in "Adevărul" (Romanian)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitcani Communes of Căușeni District Populated places under Transnistrian control Bessarabia Governorate