Investigation finds groups used illegal financing ahead of vote marred by Kremlin interference

Supporters of PAS, the party of Moldova’s president, at a rally in Chisinau last week Credit: EPA

Emily Blumenthal

28 September 2025

Moldova has banned two pro-Russia parties on the eve of a critical election marred by extensive Kremlin interference.

Voters will go to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a choice between two futures for Moldova: a path to EU membership, or an anti-Western lurch toward Moscow.

An electoral commission investigation released on Friday found that the Heart of Moldova and Greater Moldova parties had used illegal financing in their campaigns and worked with officials sent by Moscow to sway the vote.

Heart of Moldova is one of four parties in the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc, which is seeking to challenge the majority of the pro-European incumbent government led by president Maia Sandu.

Ms Sandu accused Moscow of spending “hundreds of millions of euros to buy hundreds of thousands of votes” to bring her country into Vladimir Putin’s grip.

“If Russia gains control over Moldova, the consequences will be immediate and dangerous for the entire region. Every Moldovan will suffer, no matter who they voted for,” Ms Sandu said in a national address earlier this week.

Moldova, a former Soviet state which borders Ukraine, is seen as a potential target for Putin’s revanchist ambitions, with extensive Russian influence campaigns in operation to destabilise the country, including frequent Kremlin state media claims that “MI6 is taking control of the Moldovan elections”.

Russia-linked networks have been accused of bombarding Moldovan voters with deepfake videos, disinformation, cash and cryptocurrency in the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary elections. On Tuesday, authorities also arrested 74 suspected provocateurs allegedly trained by Moscow to incite riots.

The report describes how a correspondent from the Moldovan outlet NordNews had infiltrated a massive Russian influence campaign known as Evrazzia, which allegedly trained activists from both parties and discussed payments to some of these individuals for their support.

The investigation alleges that the president of the Greater Moldova Party, Victoria Furtuna, was aware of the activities and herself participated in chatrooms where the journalist was present.

Both parties deny the allegations, the report says.

Moldova’s intelligence services also found evidence of links between Greater Moldova and the Victory Bloc, a group of pro-Russia parties backed by Ilan Shor, a fugitive oligarch and Putin ally who allegedly bankrolled Russian businesses with $8 billion (£6 billion) of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and interfere in Moldova’s elections. 

Mr Shor, who is sanctioned by Western countries, was the chairman of the Chance party, which was banned in 2023 for using undeclared foreign funds to bribe candidates and voters and attempting to sway public opinion.

In October 2024, Moldova narrowly voted to enshrine a path toward EU membership in its constitution after a bitterly contested campaign which saw a network affiliated with Russia bribe more than 130,000 people to vote “no”.

The country has also long struggled with significant pro-Russia separatist movements, particularly in the restive Transnistria region.

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Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday warned that Moldova was at risk of falling to Russia and could follow a similar road to Belarus and Georgia, both of which have leaders who are close allies of Putin.

In a speech at the UN, Ukraine’s president said: “Russia’s trying to do to Moldova what Iran once did to Lebanon and the global response again, not enough. We have already lost Georgia in Europe… and for many, many years, Belarus has also been moving toward dependence on Russia.

“Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova too.”