Young Moldovans Trained to Destabilize Country by Russian Instructors, Police Say
By Ilya Lozovsky, Fletcher alum, and writer and senior editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP)
Moscow-backed instructors tied to the Wagner mercenary group trained young Moldovans in violent tactics to cause civil unrest, authorities said on Thursday, ahead of Sunday’s referendum on whether the country should move toward joining the European Union.
The vote is a sore point for Russia, and OCCRP and its local partner CU CENS reported earlier this week on efforts from Moscow to curry favor among Moldovans, and even pay them to cast ballots against EU membership.
In a press conference in the capital of Chisinau, police and prosecutors said a group of young pro-Russian Moldovans had been “trained by foreign instructors” connected to the former Wagner paramilitary group at “guerilla camps” in Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The training program included, but was not limited to, tactics to challenge law enforcement, the use of weapons and objects to cause non-lethal injuries,” said Alexandru Musteata, director of Moldova’s intelligence agency.
They were also trained in “making and using incendiary devices and improved explosive devices, and handling drones with special explosive or incendiary attachments,” he said.
A video played by police showed material seized during recent searches, including clips of people practicing with drones and incendiary devices in a forested location.
Police said they had made four arrests and conducted dozens of searches; the investigation continues.
“We actively monitor risks and threats to ensure the security of our citizens,” Musteata said. “At this moment, we are assessing the degree of risk being a low one.”
Aside from the Bosnian and Serbian training camps, a larger group of over 300 Moldovan activists were taught protest tactics in Russia, police said. Their travel to a “suburb of Moscow” was allegedly financed by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor through a non-profit organization called Evrazia.
Shor, who faces a prison sentence in Moldova for the alleged theft of $1 billion from the country’s banks in 2014, has been waging a fierce political campaign from exile in Russia.
He and his allies aim to challenge President Maia Sandu in Sunday’s election. They also want to ensure that Moldovans vote “no” in a referendum to be held at the same time, which will determine whether integration with the EU should be enshrined in the country’s constitution.
To this end, Shor founded a political grouping called Victory Bloc. Though it is banned from campaigning in Moldova, the Bloc has allied with Evrazia, a non-profit that funds trips to Moscow for young activists, funnels payments to Moldova, and is working to build support for a “Eurasian” world power led by Moscow. The chair of Evrazia’s board is a member of the Russian parliament.
Shor could not be reached for comment.
Earlier, police accused Shor and Evrazia — whose director is a longtime Shor employee — of a massive scheme to funnel money to tens of thousands of Moldovans in exchange for their “no” votes in the EU referendum.
(This post is republished from OCCRP.)