Intelligence Report Exposes Russian Meddling in Moldova’s EU Vote

According to a report by Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), Russia extensively interfered in the process of carrying out a critical referendum last October. Through this referendum, citizens were to decide whether to enshrine Moldova’s aspiration to join the European Union in the constitution. The intelligence report was presented to the parliament by SIS chief Alexandru Musteață în mid-December of last year. On the heels of revelations into meddling in elections in Romania, this report demonstrates that intelligence services are also aware of Russian influence operations in Moldova.

In Moldova’s case, the full scope of the operation reveals disinformation campaigns, illegal financing of pro-Russian political parties, the organization of violent protests, exploitation of the Orthodox Church, and cyberattacks on electoral infrastructure likely carried out by foreign actors.

Ilan Șor: The Oligarch Behind the Attempt to Destabilize Moldova

The October Moldovan referendum ended with a very narrow result: 50.3% of the voters expressed support. Immediately after the vote, acting Moldovan President Maia Sandu declared that “criminal groups… attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies, and propaganda, using the most shameful methods to keep our citizens and nation in uncertainty and instability.” 

She then added that these groups were supported from abroad. The secret service’s report now provides a detailed description of what the entire operation was supposed to look like.

According to information from the SIS, Moldovan oligarch Ilan Șor played a key role in the attempted manipulation. The roots of his wealth go back to 2014, when he was involved in a large-scale banking fraud in which approximately $1 billion was stolen from three Moldovan banks—Banca de Economii, Unibank, and Banca Socială—the equivalent of about 10–12% of Moldova’s GDP at the time.

For this fraud, Șor was sentenced in 2017 to seven and a half years in prison, but he appealed the verdict. In 2023, his sentence was increased to 15 years in prison. However, Șor never served his sentence, as he fled to Israel and later to Russia.

“ȘOR” Party: A Political Cover for Influence Operations

The trial and conviction did not stop Șor from taking over the political movement Equality and renaming it the “ȘOR” Party. Under this banner, he was elected to the Moldovan parliament in 2019. However, he never personally attended parliamentary sessions due to his criminal prosecution.

Moldova’s Constitutional Court banned Șor’s party in the summer of 2022, allowing its MPs to complete their terms as independents. However, this did not prevent Șor from further political engagement. In the spring of 2024, he moved from Israel to Russia, where, according to the intelligence service, he coordinated a large-scale operation aimed at interfering in Moldovan politics, particularly the referendum on the European Union. His newly established coordination center was reportedly directly protected and controlled by Russian intelligence — that is, the FSB.

According to reports by the Moldovan SIS, a coordination headquarters for the ȘOR project was created in Moscow with separate units responsible for political strategy, organization, finance, and logistics, all led by Ilan Șor himself. In Moldova’s capital, Chișinău, an executive office began operating. The Moldovan office was responsible for legal matters, public relations, youth coordination, logistics, and training for individuals speaking at election rallies.