Authorities in Moldova brace for potential mass protests amid alleged Russian-backed destabilization efforts
Moldovan authorities are on high alert as they prepare for possible mass protests within the country, according to a briefing by Viorel Cernăuțeanu, head of the General Police Inspectorate.
Cernăuțeanu revealed that a group of 20 individuals had received specialized training in Russia, traveling there regularly since July. In total, over 300 people have undergone training. Four members of this group were detained at the border and are under arrest for 30 days. The training reportedly involved tactics to counter law enforcement and technical aspects of protests.
The same group has allegedly been vandalizing government properties in Moldova, including defacing them with paint.
The Director of the Information and Security Service, Alexandru Musteață, assured that the situation remains under control. "We are monitoring risks and maintaining security within Moldova. The risk level is estimated to be low," he stated.
Musteață elaborated on the structure of activist training camps aimed at destabilizing Moldova. The sessions reportedly included "strategies of national division and destabilization of constitutional order." Participants were trained in the use of non-lethal weapons, drone operation, and improvised explosives. Some attended advanced training camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Serbia, led by instructors linked to Wagner PMC and the "Ferma" organization, founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin. These programs specifically prepared provocateurs for radical and extremist actions during and after elections.
Reportedly, as of May 2024, the exiled oligarch Ilan Shor funded youth trips from Moldova to Moscow through the Eurasia non-profit. This operation was coordinated by Valentin Gloskakov and Mikhail Potepkin, who is known for his connections to Prigozhin. Potepkin has been linked to efforts to destabilize Moldova in 2023 and was connected to 2019 plans for establishing activist bases planning a racial conflict in America.
An investigation by Nastoyashcheye Vremya (the Current Time) in 2019 identified Potepkin as the head of Meroe Company in Sudan, owned by "M Invest," which either belonged to or was controlled by Prigozhin