WI: Transnistria Obtains Independence

What if Transnistria achieved independence in 1991 and gave Russia a staunch ally between Moldova and Ukraine? I feel like a timeline such as this could lead to an invasion of Ukraine by Russia from the West. Anyone else think this could be interesting?
 
I'm newer to the community so I don't know if it would be classified as such. I'm just curious what y'all think about a timeline involving Transnistria independence.
 
Maybe if Moldova launches a full scale invasion of transnistria for some reason and Transnistria receives so much russian and ukrainian support that pushes them back and Moldova recognizes it, and later europe follows
 
If Transnistria gains independence with Moldovan approval (reluctant/forced or not), Gagauzia could probably be next (though their geographic position is far worse compared to Transnistria, so probably not). I think it'll be cold comfort for Russia as it means Moldova can't be kept from drifting into the EU, or reunion with Romania. As for Ukraine, who knows. They may or may not annex it, but the Ukrainian far right nationalists who fought for Transnistria would certainly lobby for it if possible.
 
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