A pen pal in Moscow: Moldovan Chief of General Staff passed secret information to his GRU handlers

The Insider has accessed Telegram correspondence between former Chief of the Moldovan General Staff Igor Gorgan and his GRU handler, Russian Colonel Alexei Makarov.

Gorgan regularly reported to Makarov on Moldova’s domestic political situation and provided information on visits from Ukrainian Ministry of Defense representatives, who came to Moldova to purchase military equipment and ammunition. Gorgan served in the General Staff until late 2021, when the country’s new Western-leaning president Maia Sandu requested his resignation. Before the July 2023 mass expulsion of Russian spies working in Moldova under diplomatic cover in Moldova, Gorgan even managed to secure a job at the UN. Leveraging his remaining connections in the Moldovan Defense Ministry, Gorgan continues to be a key GRU informant.

This is a joint investigation with the Moldovan publication Malenkaya Strana.

Igor Gorgan and Alexei Makarov began particularly active communications in April 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their confidential meetings primarily occurred in cafes in Chisinau or during fishing trips. “I can meet anyone, I am a man of action, we need to move forward faster! We should go fishing and talk about everything! We’re living in historic times! And we have to make this history!” reads one of the messages from the Moldovan general.

Judging by these reports, the GRU was particularly interested in what kind of weapons Kyiv buys from neighboring countries — including Moldova. General Gorgan immediately reported: “Ukraine’s [state defense exporter] Ukroboronexport is trying to buy back (or take with the help of ‘partners’) 6 Mig-29s from Moldova, which are in Mărculești.

They insist very strongly... So far the airplanes are in place. They want to ‘pull off’ the operation through a front company from the United Arab Emirates in the near future.”

Gorgan sent another message on the same day: “Railroad trains with fuel are coming from the territory of Moldova, namely from the village of Etulia to the Ukrainian settlement of Reni. The train with fuel moves only at night, during the day it stands still in order not to become a target of the Russian Federation’s Aerospace Forces (VKS).”

“Thank you,” Colonel Makarov replies.

Another message to the handler followed soon after: “The Ukrainians have been walking around our Ministry of Defense for three weeks asking for everything — artillery shells in particular.”

Agent Gorgan was also restless about arms deliveries to Ukraine via Romania. Here’s the advice he gave to Colonel Makarov: “It’s essential to close the border with Romania as soon as possible! It’s a big hole! A lot of cargo comes to Ukraine from there. Especially military cargo! The Romanians still have some military factories that produce weapons and ammunition.”

Agent Gorgan

Agent Gorgan’s biography is quite typical for a Soviet army officer who found himself in a CIS country after the collapse of the USSR. Born in 1969 in Dubossary, Moldova, he completed compulsory military service before enrolling in the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School, graduating in 1991. Returning to an independent Moldova, Gorgan first served in an airborne division in Ukraine’s Odesa region, then back home as commander of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade in Chisinau.