- Russia has devised a plan to intervene in elections in Moldova and disrupt the government’s efforts to keep the country on the path toward European Union membership, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
- The plan includes tactics such as recruitment of Moldovans abroad to vote, deploying others to stage disruptive protests, and a widespread disinformation campaign on social media, the documents show.
- The goal of the plan is to undermine the chances of President Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity and ultimately see her removed from power, according to the documents citing the internal Russian plans.
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Moldovan police, meanwhile, have been cracking down on disinformation campaigns and attempts to buy votes. Last month, the authorities officially asked to block 443 TikTok channels.
On Monday, officers mounted an operation against what they said was a Russian-backed plot to destabilize the election, according to presidential adviser Stanislav Secrieru. Authorities in Chisinau detained 74 people and conducted more than 250 searches across the country, dismantling a network allegedly run with support from the Russian intelligence service GRU, police told a news conference.
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A former Soviet state, Moldova has a significant Russophone minority among its 2.4 million population. The breakaway state of Transnistria is under Russian occupation, according to the Council of Europe, while the leader of the region of Gagauzia was convicted by a Moldovan court of illegally funneling Russian money to a political party.
“The Kremlin’s goal is clear: to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use us against Ukraine and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union,” Sandu told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg on Sept. 9. “That is why this election is very important. By defending it, we protect not only Moldova, but also regional security and stability.”
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Sandu’s party, known as PAS, is promising to kick off the EU accession process and win access to much-needed funds after Moldova began entry talks last year. But the latest polls suggest PAS may lose its parliamentary majority, raising the prospect of an uneasy coalition.
PAS faces stiff opposition from several groups. They include the nominally pro-EU Alternative bloc and a pro-Russian one led by former President Igor Dodon, who a separate set of documents seen by Bloomberg suggests asked security services to track political opponents when he was in office. Dodon said in an email to Bloomberg that he always acted legally and in the interests of Moldova.
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Russia has dedicated significant resources to influencing elections in the region, according to the European government officials. In Georgia, a vote last year saw accusations of widespread interference and paved the way to ongoing protests.
Then came the presidential election in Romania, where judges ordered a rerun following allegations of Russian meddling that had propelled a fringe far-right candidate to a first-round victory.
A months-long investigation found that Russia had been targeting Romania as part of a hybrid campaign stretching back to 2022, according to the country’s chief prosecutor, Alex Florenta. Four companies with ties to Russia orchestrated fake social media accounts and AI bots that reached at least 1.3 million citizens, he said on Sept. 16.
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The votes of Moldovans residing abroad were crucial in the 2024 votes. As part of its plans for these elections, one of the documents showed Russia intended to recruit members of the Moldovan diaspora and pay for them to travel and vote.
The plans also included a disinformation campaign on Telegram, TikTok and Facebook, as well as via more traditional channels and call centers. Messaging in Romanian, Moldova’s official language, and Russian accuses Sandu of being a foreign puppet who is pushing the country into misery and war.
Moldova’s police have sought to stop fake news spreading on social media and said groups were also illegally bringing in money to buy votes and for political parties to undermine the outcome of the election. Officers seized 5 million Moldovan lei ($302,000) on Sept. 16 alone during raids to take down an alleged money-laundering operation, police said in a statement.
Russia plans to recruit young men from sports clubs and criminal networks to stage violent provocations during the vote and protests after it, the documents show. That would include demonstrations calling for Sandu to resign if her party loses the election or to paint the result as tainted if it wins.