(Bloomberg) -- Authorities in Moldova said they uncovered a Russia-backed operation involving 130,000 of its citizens that was designed to influence crucial votes on President Maia Sandu’s European aspirations this month.
Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, officials in the nation of 2.6 million have accused the Kremlin of waging a hybrid war to keep the former Soviet republic within its orbit as the nation prepares for an Oct. 20 presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union.
In September alone, $15 million was transferred from Russia to activists from an electoral bloc affiliated with fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor to be used for disinformation, provocations and attacks against public institutions, according to the national chief of police.
“Russia aims not only to corrupt voters, but also to provoke protests and destabilization on the territory of Moldova,” Viorel Cernauteanu told reporters in Chisinau on Thursday, presenting video and audio intercepts.
Payments are made through transfers to the cards of a bank linked with the Russian Defense Ministry, while the recipients are instructed via Telegram on how to vote and promote falsehoods about the EU, the police chief said.
Shor, who was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for fraud, has previously said the Moldovan government is taking “revenge” on his movement and has repeatedly denied all charges. In comments to Russia’s state-run Tass news service, he dismissed the fresh allegations, calling them an “absurd show.”
The Russian Defense Ministry didn’t respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.
Sandu, who is vying for a second term as president this month, has frequently accused Moscow of trying to interfere in the campaign and undermine her country’s goal of becoming an EU member by the end of this decade.
Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in the elections of other countries, including Moldova’s. In April, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moldova’s authorities were pursuing an “aggressive anti-Russia policy” and criticized plans for the referendum, claiming that most Moldovans “do not want their country to become an appendage of the EU and NATO.”
(Adds reaction to the accusations in sixth paragraph.)
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