Moldova raids alleged Russian networks ahead of election

Moldovan police on Monday said they had raided more than 250 sites around the country, including several prisons, as part of an investigation into Russia-backed destabilization plots. The searches targeted more than a hundred people who allegedly planned mass disruption of society through criminal networks. The raids came ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for Sunday.

Igor Dodon, former president of Moldova and current co-leader of the pro-Russian party called the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, on Monday said the raids targeted some of his party members. He accused the pro-European, liberal Party of Action and Solidarity of using the searches as a repression technique.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who founded the Party of Action and Solidarity, on Monday said the Kremlin was spending hundreds of millions of euros on attempting to buy pro-Russia votes. Russia had accomplices inside Moldova, she said.

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