Moldova's pro-Western government resigned on Friday after a turbulent 18 months in power marked by economic turmoil and the spillover effects of Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine.

In the latest tensions with Moscow over the war, the government said shortly before Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita announced her resignation that a Russian missile had violated Moldovan airspace, and summoned Russia's ambassador to protest.

President Maia Sandu accepted Gavrilita's resignation.

"Thank you so much for your enormous sacrifice and efforts to lead the country in a time of so many crises," Sandu wrote on Facebook. "In spite of unprecedented challenges, the country was governed responsibly, with a lot of attention and dedicated work. We have stability, peace and development - where others wanted war and bankruptcy."

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Hours later, Sandu nominated her defense advisor Dorin Recean to be the country's new prime minister.

Recean, who is also the secretary of Moldova's security council and a former interior minister, said he planned to continue to pursue membership of the European Union for Moldova. He said his government's priorities would be order and discipline, breathing new life into the economy, and peace and stability.

The nation of 2.5 million has suffered from soaring inflation and was strained last year by an influx of Ukrainian refugees. It has also suffered power cuts following Russian air attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and has struggled to break its dependence on Russian gas.

The steep price increases, particularly for gas, led to street protests last year in which demonstrators called for the government and Sandu to resign. Chisinau has described the protests as part of a Kremlin-sponsored campaign to destabilize the government.

"I believe in the Moldovan people. I believe in Moldova," Gavrilita told a news briefing at which she announced her government was stepping aside. "I believe that we will be able to make it through all the difficulties and challenges."

In an interview with state television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moldova was among  a group of former Soviet republics that he accused the West of trying to turn into enemies of Russia.

Join to drive the EU

Gavrilita became prime minister in August 2021 after her pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity secured a majority in parliament with a mandate to clean up corruption.

EU leaders accepted Moldova as a membership candidate last year in a diplomatic triumph for Sandu. The government had been mapping out reforms to accelerate accession to the 27-nation bloc and working on diversifying its energy supply.

Russia, which has troops in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, has bristled at the possibility of former Soviet republics joining the EU.