Moldova says its citizens trained in Russia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to stage riots

Moldova’s police said on Thursday they had uncovered a program in which hundreds of its citizens were sent to Russia to undergo training to organize riots, the latest in a spate of meddling allegations ahead of Sunday’s elections. They were also sent to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Police said earlier this month that Russian-backed crime groups had bribed a number of voters and conspired to disrupt this weekend’s presidential election and referendum on the country’s ambitions to join the European Union, even going so far as to seize state buildings.

The authorities said that the people had been regularly brought to Russia for training in groups of around 20 people since June.

Recently, more than 300 young people from Moldova visited Russia. The stated purpose was cultural events, in fact they visited camps where they received instructions for riots in Moldova, said the head of the national police, Viorel Cernauteanu.

“Some of these people were trained in camps run by private military companies on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia,” he said.

Russia, which accuses the pro-Western government of fomenting “Russophobia”, has rejected intervention in Moldova, which began moving faster away from Moscow’s sphere of influence after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.

Moldovan police said at a press conference that law enforcement authorities believed that a group linked to fugitive pro-Kremlin businessman Ilan Shor had organized the training to organize riots.

“The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is currently conducting investigations into several criminal cases related to the preparation of mass riots in the interests of the criminal community,” prosecutor Viktor Furtuna said.

Shor, who is under US sanctions for allegedly interfering in elections on behalf of Russia, denies wrongdoing or being a political proxy for Russia.

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