Introduction
A recent investigative article by The New York Times reports that Russia mounted an extensive campaign to interfere in Moldova’s elections, using military intelligence-linked training camps, vote-buying networks, cyberattacks and religious figures to undermine the country’s pro-Western government. The campaign was aimed at weakening President Maia Sandu and her pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), according to the report.
Moldova, a country of about three million people located between Ukraine and NATO member Romania, has become a major target for the Kremlin as it has pursued closer ties with the European Union. The outcome of last September’s parliamentary elections was regarded as a determinant of Moldova’s path to the EU; Sandu, who won re-election in 2024 against a Kremlin-backed candidate, called it the country’s most consequential election in its history.
Training Camps and GRU Links
According to the NYT report, Russian operatives established training camps in Serbia, Bosnia and near Moscow, where Moldovan recruits were taught tactics including breaking through police cordons, setting buildings on fire and handling weapons. Some participants trained with assault rifles while wearing camouflage and flak jackets. Two Western intelligence officials told the outlet that the Moscow camp was overseen by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Moldovan prosecutors said participants were also trained to use incendiary devices, homemade explosives and drones equipped to carry explosives or start fires. One recruit who attended a camp in Bosnia later told a Moldovan court that a Russian trainer punched him after he refused to participate in some activities.
Reporting by the outlet is based on interviews with activists, Moldovan officials, and intelligence officials, as well as thousands of documents related to Russia’s attempts to interfere in Moldova’s elections.
Vote-Buying Network and Telegram Bots
The Kremlin-linked campaign also relied heavily on money and social media. The NYT reported that fugitive Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, who lives in Russia, oversaw a sophisticated network designed to influence voters and organise protests against Sandu and Moldova’s EU ambitions. Documents reviewed by the outlet indicated that more than 150,000 Moldovans were recruited into the network. Payments to 38,000 activists totalled nearly $20 million in the four months preceding Moldova’s 2024 EU referendum. The operation used about 240 Telegram chatbots to recruit and coordinate participants. The European Union sanctioned several Moldovans linked to Shor’s operations in June, including political activist Iuri Vitneanski.
Priests and Cyberattacks
Hundreds of Moldovan Orthodox priests travelled to Russia from 2024, where some received Russian bank cards and payments in exchange for promoting anti-EU messages. A priest warned that closer ties with Europe would bring social and moral changes threatening Moldova. The interference efforts targeted Moldova’s parliamentary election on September 28, 2025. Hackers targeted Moldova’s Central Election Commission and routers. Sandu’s PAS won more than 50% of the vote. The NYT also reported that Russia has continued to pressure Moldova through energy infrastructure attacks.
Kremlin Response
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of interference as “untrue assertions that have no basis whatsoever.” In public, the Kremlin has denied any involvement in Moldovan affairs. Putin has denied trying to subvert the West at all. However, the NYT report cites a secret briefing in which Putin outlined an objective of masterminding “the collapse of NATO and the E.U. from within.”