The Russian Federation has intensified its hybrid operations against the Republic of Moldova, with the campaign being coordinated by the first vice-president of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, responsible for countering the European integration of Chisinau and promoting pro-Russian forces. The warning was made by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
According to the institution in Kiev, the aim of the campaign is to install a pro-Russian government in Chisinau. It covers various directions: disinformation through the pro-Kremlin bot network, called “Matryoshka”, distributing false videos, stylized as being products of European media institutions, “Deutsche Welle”, “Spiegel”, “Euronews”, “Business Insider”, with the purpose of discrediting the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, in the opinion of Ukrainian authorities.
Another direction of the Russian campaign is diplomatic pressure. Two days ago, Moscow accused two Moldovans of espionage and denied them consular access. The diplomacy from Chisinau dismissed the accusations as unfounded and politically motivated, reports IPN.
Another example, cited by the Foreign Intelligence Service in Kiev, is the creation of security risks: under the guise of a kickboxing championship, Russian and Belarusian athletes with military experience tried to enter Chisinau. The Moldovan authorities denied entry to 195 individuals and blocked the embarkation of another 176 people.
At the same time, Ukrainian intelligence agencies have pointed out that the authorities in Chisinau claim that “Russia is making deliberate efforts to destabilize the situation in Moldova before the parliamentary elections, which will take place on September 28th”. According to Prime Minister Dorin Recean, in the event of a victory for pro-Russian forces, the Kremlin intends to deploy 10,000 troops in the Transnistrian region.