Moldova’s pro-European leader, President Maia Sandu, has warned that Moscow is orchestrating an “unprecedented” campaign to sway the outcome in its favour.

“The Russian Federation wants to control Moldova from the autumn,” she declared at a press conference on 30 July. “They are preparing massive interference to get their people into the next parliament.”

Sandu, who has been a vocal critic of the Kremlin, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, outlined a broad playbook of alleged interference tactics: vote-buying funded through cryptocurrencies, violent protests, cyberattacks and information manipulation – all coordinated from a “single command point” in Moscow.

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“It’s clear Russia is pulling out all the stops,” said Stanislav Secrieru, Moldova’s national security adviser, in an interview with Politico.

He pointed to a “renewed blitz” targeting Moldovans abroad, with nearly a quarter of a million voters outside the country eligible to cast their vote.

“The campaign is designed to demobilise diaspora voters – encouraging them to stay home – and to manipulate those who do vote into supporting a fake pro-EU force.”

Moldova’s diaspora overwhelmingly supported Sandu in last year’s presidential vote, which was also dogged by accusations of Russian meddling, including a cash-for-votes scheme and staged protests abroad.

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