Russia behind disinformation campaign ahead of EU referendum

The Kremlin finances cyberattacks and spreads fake news on social networks from fake accounts through fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor

Russia is behind a disinformation campaign in Moldova ahead of presidential elections and a referendum in which EU membership will become a “strategic goal,” The New York Times writes , citing Moldovan officials.

A month before the referendum, “No EU” posters in Russian and Romanian appeared at bus stops throughout Chisinau, ostensibly as part of an advertising campaign ahead of a concert by a Russian-speaking Ukrainian singer. The country's police chief, Viorel Cernauteanu, said the posters had nothing to do with the singer but were part of a "big psychological operation" organized by Russia to disrupt the referendum. Behind this is the fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who is hiding in Moscow; the police have evidence that the people who ordered the posters were connected with the oligarch. Shor was sentenced in Moldova to 15 years in prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the country's banking system, and for years he also engaged in Russian propaganda and inciting hostility towards the West.

Sunday's vote to change the constitution represents the culmination of a decades-long battle between East and West over Moldova's direction. While the European Union has supported Moldova's economy and government, Russia has sought to keep the country in its orbit by covertly funding anti-government activities and waging what officials say is a widespread disinformation campaign against the EU, NYT writes.

Incumbent pro-Western President Maia Sandu is expected to win the presidential race despite widespread disappointment with her economic performance. The results of the referendum are not so clear. To recognize the results of the referendum as valid, it is necessary that at least a third of voters take part in the voting, and this is not an easy task, given that in recent years a large number of people have emigrated from Moldova to work abroad.

According to Moldovan and European officials, there is a brazen campaign in favor of no voting or abstention, driven by disinformation and tricks directed from Moscow. In a Telegram post earlier this month, Shore promised to pay the equivalent of $28 to each new subscriber to a channel called "Stop EU" on the online communication platform. After this, Telegram suspended Shor’s channel “because it violated local laws.” Shor responded on the social network X by blaming the “totalitarian puppet masters” in the West for everything.

On Friday, Meta * said it had removed seven accounts, one group and 23 pages on Facebook and another 20 accounts on Instagram that the company linked to "coordinated inauthentic behavior." A dozen fictitious Russian-language news outlets participated in this activity. Among the accounts blocked by Facebook was one that was used to promote the concert of Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhodko in Chisinau, which also posted the message "NO EU".
Moscow is doing everything it can to increase people's fears about EU integration, spreading messages that Europe will lead to economic collapse and an assault on traditional values.
In the run-up to the referendum, Russia poured money and energy into preventing constitutional amendments by unleashing an “epidemic of fake news” on social media, Moldovan officials say.
Microsoft tracked a massive Russian campaign targeting Moldova that included hacks and leaks of government documents, denial of service attacks on government websites, and a torrent of disinformation, including fake news and man-made images and videos amplified by bots and fake accounts.
At a meeting last month in Moscow with two Moldovan politicians close to Shor, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moldova needs to stop integrating with Europe before “they come to take away the children to change them: boys into girls, and girls into boys." According to her, if as a result of Sunday's vote Moldova remains on its pro-European path, “it will be too late.”

* Recognized in Russia as an “extremist” organization.
Photo: The New York Times