Russia has already launched active preparations to interfere in Moldova’s upcoming elections by strengthening disinformation campaigns and efforts to influence public opinion, said Alexandru Musteață, director of Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), as reported by Deschide.
According to the head of Moldova’s intelligence agency, the country is currently much better prepared to counter foreign interference attempts than in previous years, although existing threats continue to evolve. Musteață emphasized that, despite the agency’s high level of readiness for future interference attempts by the Russian Federation, there is no room for complacency, as Moscow continues its activities. He noted that Russia has large teams of specialists working on these efforts, receiving significant funding and focusing daily on destabilizing the situation in Moldova.
The SIS director added that this year the agency has observed a significant increase in disinformation and propaganda operations carried out through new methods different from those used previously. While Telegram was previously the main platform for spreading propaganda, TikTok has now become the primary tool for large-scale dissemination of disinformation. At the same time, Moldovan intelligence services have detected a resurgence of manipulation campaigns on Facebook, as well as the regular emergence of temporary websites created solely to spread false information. The main objective of these campaigns is to systematically undermine citizens’ trust in national democratic institutions.
Musteață explained that information attacks target the armed forces, the security sector, public order institutions, and the justice system. Moscow’s goal is to weaken confidence in the state as much as possible, causing citizens to question the effectiveness of these critical institutions during the next electoral cycle.
In addition, Russian security services are deliberately collecting personal data of Moldovan citizens in order to later use this information for recruitment operations or various fraud schemes.
