The Russian disinformation network “Matryoshka” has launched an extensive campaign targeting the Republic of Moldova for the first time. On social media networks Twitter (X) and Bluesky, videos are circulating that imitate the content produced by international media or universities, claiming that the current president of the country, Maia Sandu, won the elections through propaganda campaigns and is currently carrying out reprisals against her opponents. The information was provided to the publication The Insider by the “Bot Blocker” project (antibot4navalny). In one of the videos, supposedly created by the French public service to combat disinformation VIGINUM and shared on Twitter with the message “VIGINUM has prepared a multi-layered study on the phenomenon of propaganda in favor of Maia Sandu on TikTok,” it is claimed that 1 million dollars were spent per day for filming and distributing disinformation videos in support of Maia Sandu.It is interesting to note that manipulating public opinion through TikTok, with the help of Russia, was one of the accusations made against the former ultranationalist candidate for the presidency of Romania, Călin Georgescu. Following these accusations, the results of the first round, in which Georgescu had emerged as the winner, were annulled and he was not allowed to run in the repeat elections.In another video, in French, presented as an intervention by a professor from a French university, Maia Sandu is accused of political reprisals, citing the arrest of former governor of Gagauzia, Evghenia Guțul, who was detained under suspicion of buying voters and illegally financing the pro-Kremlin party “Șor”. After her arrest, Guțul asked Vladimir Putin to exert pressure on the authorities in Moldova to release her.Read more HERE.
