The story of Transnistria reads like a history class thought exercise rather than a real life situation. What happens when a nation (Moldova) splits off from its mother country (The Soviet Union) but a large faction of people disagree with the new found independence and would prefer to maintain a level of Soviet loyalty? Enter Transnistria.

The small independent country, home to half a million people with its own currency and standing army, isn't officially recognized as a country at all, despite fighting for (and winning) its independence from Moldova in 1990. They simply exist autonomously but without recognition. Their whole identity skews very Soviet - Sickle and Hammer flags, Stalin and Putin equally revered, etc. - but they aren't part of Russia either.

Photographer Justin Barton has documented many of the residents of Transnistria in this photo series. It's quite interesting to see the environments where the portraits were shot as much as it is to see the people themselves. If this were the plot of a Twilight Zone episode, I wouldn't bat an eye.