Russian bots pose as The Insider to spread disinfo about Moldova’s President Maia Sandu, alleging she uses orphans to win votes

In June, the same bot network published graphic images predicting the “imminent end” of Sandu, including fake graffiti depicting her execution. Around the same time, the “Foundation to Battle Injustice” — a project started by Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin — released a fabricated report claiming Sandu was involved in trafficking Ukrainian children to pedophiles.

Sandu’s PAS party is preparing for Moldova’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for Sept. 28, 2025. Fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor and his pro-Russian Victory (“Victorie”) bloc were barred from running by Moldova’s Central Election Commission on July 19 due to their violation of party laws and links to Shor.

The Moldovan authorities accuse Shor of organizing a major banking fraud in 2014 that led to the disappearance of around $1 billion from three Moldovan banks. He was sentenced in 2017 to 7.5 years in prison. In 2019, while the case was still under appeal, Shor fled from under house arrest, leaving Moldova for Israel, and then later settling in Moscow. He obtained Russian citizenship in 2024.

In 2023, his sentence was increased to 15 years, though he remains a fugitive. Prosecutors say Shor has created a criminal organization that funneled illicit funds into Moldova’s political system, bribed voters with an estimated $39 million through Russia’s Promsvyazbank, and spread propaganda aimed at undermining the pro-European government led by Maia Sandu.