1.   Both republics border on the Black Sea.

2.   A Russian serviceman and an unknown assailant were wounded in an attack early Sunday on an army base in a southern republic bordering on rebel Chechnya, officials said.

3.   Four more people died and two were injured when lightning struck a corn field in Moldova, a former Soviet republic bordering Romania.

4.   The Bosnian Serb republic borders Croatia to the north and sees its neighbor as a gateway to Europe.

5.   The central government in Moldova, a former Soviet republic bordering Romania, has declared the election illegitimate but done nothing to stop it.

6.   The republic borders war-torn Chechnya and is the site of a smoldering ethnic conflict with neighboring Ingushetia.

7.   The Russian side has proposed a round of talks on Wednesday and Thursday in Nazran, capital of Ingushetia, a Russian republic bordering Chechnya.

8.   The Russian side has proposed a round of talks Wednesday and Thursday in Nazran, capital of Ingushetia, a Russian republic bordering Chechnya.

9.   The republic borders the separatist region of Chechnya and has been troubled by hostage-takings and other attacks.

10.   The republic borders war-torn Chechnya.