Moldovan election subjected to escalating Russian disinformation operations

Mounting influence operations and disinformation campaigns have been launched by Russia before Moldova's parliamentary election next week in a bid to prevent the country's ruling party from maintaining majority, as well as its entry to the European Union, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Aside from recruiting Moldovans to post artificial intelligence-generated propaganda on TikTok against President Maia Sandu as part of an influence campaign linked by the BBC to U.S.- and UK-sanctioned fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, Russia has also escalated disinformation campaigns with false pro-Russian narratives, a report from the Institute for the Study of War showed.

Moscow was also reported by Bloomberg to have planned to remove Sandu via disinformation operations on social media and street protests.

"These election influence campaigns are part of Moscow's overall efforts to achieve its long-held strategic objective of preventing Moldova from integrating with the West," said ISW researchers.