Kremlin-linked Matryoshka botnet launches hoax alleging repression against The Insider

On the eve of Moldova’s Sept. 28 parliamentary elections, the Kremlin-linked Matryoshka disinformation network released yet another wave of fake videos, the Bot Blocker Project reports. One of the videos claims that the authorities in Chisinau stripped four of The Insider’s journalists of their Moldovan citizenship. Needless to say, the claim is false.

In the fake video, the revocation of citizenship was presented as part of Maia Sandu's alleged repressions against independent media outlets, supposedly in retaliation for investigations into “electoral corruption” on the part of Sandu herself and her party, PAS.

In reality, none of The Insider’s journalists hold or have ever held Moldovan citizenship, and the outlet has not conducted any investigations into the fabricated corruption claims against Sandu. The only investigations by The Insider related to Moldova have focused on the Matryoshka bot network, Russian interference in the elections, the activities of fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, and other Kremlin hybrid operations targeting the country.

As The Insider’s editor-in-chief, Roman Dobrokhotov, made clear, “None of The Insider’s journalists have ever held Moldovan citizenship, and the only investigations we have conducted recently concerning Moldova were about the Kremlin’s interference in Moldovan politics through such bots.”

In his post, Dobrokhotov also sent regards to Russian citizens Sofia Zakharova and Ilya Gambashidze. Zakharova is a staffer at Moscow’s Presidential Directorate for Information and Communication Technologies, overseeing contractors from Gambashidze's “Social Design Agency,” which runs the “troll factory” that replaced the now-defunct “Prigozhin network.”

The Insider reported on how Kremlin bots spread false claims about Sandu exploiting orphans as part of her campaign and how the network circulated fake graffiti depicting her “execution.” The website of the “Foundation for the Fight Against Repression,” created by the late Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, even published a fabricated investigation alleging that Sandu supposedly ran a business selling Ukrainian children to pedophiles.

The Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), co-founded and led by President Sandu, won the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, oligarch Ilan Shor, who is hiding in Russia, also attempted to participate with his pro-Russian bloc, Victory. On July 19, 2025, Moldova’s Central Election Commission denied Victory registration, citing its ties to Shor and violations of the law on political parties.

Moldovan authorities have charged Shor with orchestrating a large-scale bank fraud in 2014, which involved the theft of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks. In 2017, a court sentenced Shor to 7.5 years in prison. However, in 2019, while under house arrest while the case was on appeal, Shor fled to Israel, later turning up in Moscow. In 2023, the term of his sentence was increased to 15 years. Shor is also charged with creating an organized criminal group and channeling illicit financial flows into Moldova’s political system. He is also accused of participation in the organization of mass protests, voter bribery (amounting to roughly $39 million, funneled through Promsvyazbank), and propaganda aimed at destabilizing the pro-European government.