Photo: EPA
The Kremlin has launched one of its most extensive hybrid operations against Chisinau outside Ukraine. The New York Times published a detailed investigation into Russian interference in Moldova.
According to officials from two countries familiar with the matter, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined the Kremlin’s objective for 2026 during a closed briefing with military commanders at the end of 2025: to “destroy NATO and the EU from within.” Western intelligence officials told the newspaper that bringing Moldova under Moscow’s control is the Kremlin’s second-largest priority after Ukraine.
Training camps for Moldovan recruits
In the summer of 2025, Russia set up a camp at a resort in western Serbia, disguising it as a wellness facility called “Relax and Have Fun.” Participants, most of them Moldovans, were reportedly paid $400 for three- or four-day courses.
Moldovan prosecutor Sergiu Zamu, who has spent more than a year investigating election interference cases, said participants were taught how to break through police lines, set buildings on fire and handle assault rifles. Intelligence services from three countries identified Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU as the camp’s organizers.
A similar camp operated near Moscow, where more than 100 young Moldovans were reportedly trained to make homemade explosives and operate drones equipped with special mounts for carrying munitions.
Maxim Roșcu, a participant in the Serbian camp, told a court that a Russian instructor beat him and knocked out one of his teeth after he refused to take part in the training.
In October 2024, three participants of the camp were detained at the border. Authorities found drone components designed to drop grenades, as well as a manual titled “Russian Kitchen: The ABCs of Homemade Terrorism.”
A large-scale vote-buying operation
At the same time, the Kremlin financed an extensive scheme to bribe Moldovan voters. It was overseen by Israeli-Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who is hiding in Russia.
According to three Western intelligence officials, Shor reports to Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior Kremlin official responsible for countries within Russia’s sphere of influence. The scheme was reportedly developed and coordinated from Skolkovo, the Kremlin-backed innovation center outside Moscow.
Leaked documents from a financial company linked to Shor and reviewed by The New York Times showed that more than 150,000 Moldovans were involved in the operation. Some 240 Telegram bots were created to coordinate the network.
Participants were divided into several levels, including “sympathizers,” 35,000 “activists” and 1,200 “local managers.”
In the four months before Moldova’s 2024 referendum on EU membership, the network reportedly distributed nearly $20 million to 38,000 activists.
Last month, the European Union imposed sanctions on four Moldovans linked to Shor’s scheme. Among them was activist Yuri Vitnyanskyi. According to the EU, he received regular payments from Shor and participated in efforts to “destabilize and overthrow the constitutional order.”
Documents showed that Vitnyanskyi received approximately $2,300 per payment.
The Kremlin also recruited clergy
The campaign also involved Orthodox clergy. Since the summer of 2024, hundreds of Moldovan priests reportedly traveled to Russia on pilgrimages. There, they signed contracts and received debit cards from Russia’s Promsvyazbank, which is linked to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The documents identified the priests as employees of “Eurasia,” a Kremlin-linked organization whose board includes Shor. In exchange for approximately $1,000, the priests were allegedly expected to encourage parishioners to vote against Moldova’s accession to the EU.
One priest, Father Pavel Petrov, addressed his congregation from the pulpit several weeks before the 2024 election, criticizing European integration and invoking the biblical story of “Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Russia tried to activate all its tools at once
On September 28, 2025, the day of Moldova’s parliamentary elections, Russia attempted to deploy all of its prepared instruments simultaneously.
Militants trained in Serbia and wearing yellow-and-blue armbands were preparing to stage riots in Chisinau. Some reportedly carried incendiary mixtures. At the same time, hackers targeted Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission.
Moldovan authorities had already carried out hundreds of searches and arrests among participants of the training camps and recipients of payments from Shor. Cybersecurity specialists, supported by Western partners, also managed to repel the attack on the country’s electoral system.
President Maia Sandu’s party won the election with slightly more than 50% of the vote. Moldova’s diaspora played a significant role in the result.
Sandu’s national security adviser, Stanislav Secrieru, told the newspaper that Russia wanted to use Moldova “as a platform for hostile actions against Ukraine, as well as against its main defense and financial ally, the EU.”
He said Russia had devoted unprecedented resources to such operations in recent years.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations of interference, calling them “false claims that have no basis.”
Pressure on Moldova continues
The Kremlin did not end its campaign after the election.
In spring 2026, Russian missiles struck energy infrastructure supplying electricity to Moldova, causing disruptions to the country’s power supply. Russian drones also damaged a power transmission line in Ukraine that provides up to 70% of Moldova’s electricity. The disruption resulted in blackouts in Chisinau.
“We won the battle, but we have not yet won the war,” said Mihai Lupashcu, director of Moldova’s Cybersecurity Agency.
Russian missiles and drones have also repeatedly violated Moldova’s airspace during attacks on Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Moldova has recorded 60 such incidents.
The number of violations has increased each year: five were recorded in 2022, four in 2023, 15 in 2024, 21 in 2025 and another 15 by July 28, 2026.
The incidents are continuing. On August 10, during a Russian attack on Ukraine’s Odesa region, a Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace before returning to Ukraine. In December 2024, Moldovan authorities also confirmed that a Russian missile had crossed the country’s airspace during a massive strike on Ukraine.
