They are hurting their chances in Ukraine by keeping those troops in Moldova.
Russian troops have been in Transnistria since 1992 as joint peacekeepers, by treaty with the Moldovan govt, which failed to crush by force, Transnistrian resistance to being integrated into Moldova and eventually, they feared, Rumania. Transnistrians are about equally Russian and Ukrainian speakers that do not choose to be part of Moldova…or Ukraine.
Another sloppy remnant of post-Cold War “political map boundary drawing” that occurred after the breakup of the Soviet Union….trying to force a single political identity on diverse ethnic groups with historic animosities and separatist goals arising from being persecuted
Ukraine has NO legal right or justification to invade Moldova ( which is what Moldovan Pres Sandu wants to call her “ problem”- Transnistria) therefore the Russian bogeyman false flag they are trying to use for cover
Even an idiot can’t find a Russian invasion buildup in 2,000 troops, almost half of which guard a very large arsenal of Soviet era weapons in Colbasna, Transnistria. Kiev’s true objective.