Moldovan SSR including Budjak and Northern Bukovina & Bessarabia.

[wiltedpleasure]

While looking at maps of Romania before and after WW2 I've been wondering about the incorporation of Moldova in the USSR and the territories it was assigned. While the bulk of what was acquired from Romania was made into the Moldovan SSR, Budjak and the northern parts of Bukovina and Bessarabia were given to Ukraine since some parts of them (but not all) were populated by Ukrainians. What could have happened and how would Moldova develop inside the USSR and later as an independent nation if it had those territories?

It wouldn't have been weird for Moldova rather than Ukraine to have them since it was ultimately Stalin who decided who gets what, and it could've been justified with good old fashion divide and conquer, putting minorities inside republics of another ethnicity to maintain a hold of them. I'm guessing it would look something like the image. (I added Transnistria but it could realistically be omitted and stay in Ukraine):

 

[Nelson Mikeson]

Moldova losing the Budjak had a more strategic value: it granted Moldova access to the Danube and the Black Sea and Stalin did not trust Moldova with such important transportation outlets. Northern Bukowina is unlikely to become part of the Moldovan SSR in most cases, since it was treated as "compensation" for the 20 years in which Bessarabia was part of Romania and as part of the Moldovan SSR it would bring all Romanian irredentists in the same SSR and strengthen them.

Moldova keeping the Budjak would not have massive consequences, the small increase in wealth the sea access would bring would be limited by corruption. The region is a mix of Bulgarians-Russians-Ukrainians(there wasn't a major resettlement of Romanians post-occupation since they were already only about 25% of the population), so the region would likely increase the power of pro-Russian parties in Moldova, but the multi-cultural character and history as part of Moldova would prevent a Transnistria/Găgăuzia from rising there.