Russia Ran $100 Million Moldova Destabilization Plot, Training Shock Troops in 3 Countries
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Russia Ran $100 Million Moldova Destabilization Plot, Training Shock Troops in 3 Countries
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Summary
Western intelligence officials say Russia mounted one of its broadest operations outside Ukraine to derail Moldova’s pro-Western government and manipulate its elections.
Three training programs in Serbia, Bosnia and Moscow prepared pro-Russian Moldovans to breach police lines, torch buildings and use assault rifles, with organizers tied to Russia’s GRU.
Hundreds of Orthodox Moldovan priests were paid to recruit voters and spread Russian narratives, while a vote-buying scheme spent hundreds of millions of dollars through an exiled Moldovan billionaire.
Moldova’s roughly 3 million people give the country outsized strategic value for Vladimir Putin, making it a key front in Moscow’s wider campaign to destabilize the West.
How did a seemingly innocent Serbian wellness spa become the secret training ground for an entire nation's political collapse?
When state intelligence merges with darknet cybercriminals to harvest civilian data, can any small democracy protect its elections from foreign control?
The $300 Million Plot: How Moldova Fought Back Against Russia’s Hybrid Election Sabotage and EU Referendum Attack
Overview
In 2024, Moldova’s security services uncovered a Russian plot to destabilize its elections, tracing the operation to secret training camps in Bosnia and Serbia run by Russian instructors. Authorities intercepted a minibus loaded with tactical gear, directly linking it to the camp training. The plot was funded through sophisticated cryptocurrency networks, enabling large-scale vote-buying, staged protests, and digital disinformation. Court sentences followed in 2026, but the network’s gig-economy model—outsourcing sabotage to local recruits—made prosecution difficult. Moldova responded with nationwide raids and digital defense exercises with the EU, while Russian hybrid tactics spread across Europe, targeting critical infrastructure and elections.