Maia Sandu has accused Moscow of using Russian Orthodox priests to spread propaganda and of deploying the “Matryoshka” bot network to generate fake content disguised as legitimate foreign media.
Sandu said that Russia has expanded its interference in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for 28 September, to target voters living abroad.
Relying heavily on the diaspora to secure her second term last year and to win support for Moldova’s path toward EU membership, Sandu stressed that Moscow has stepped up its online disinformation campaign.
“Russians are targeting the diaspora,” she said.
According to Sandu, Russia is spending the equivalent of 1% of Moldova’s GDP on interfering in the 2024 elections. She emphasized that Moscow’s tactics are evolving, noting that criminals on the Kremlin’s payroll are now also being used to provoke unrest in Moldovan prisons.
“Russia is employing a very wide range of tools, trying to undermine our institutions,” she said.
Sandu underlined that, given the pressure and threats Moldova is facing, integration into the European Union is “the only way for us to survive as a democracy.”
“We believe the EU must find a solution so that both Moldova and Ukraine can move on to the next stages,” she added.
She called the upcoming parliamentary elections the final obstacle on Moldova’s path to EU accession.