Moldova warns Russia unleashing huge interference campaign to sway crucial election

President Maia Sandu said Russia is spending "hundreds of millions of euros" to sway Moldova's election. Kira Hofmann/Photothek/Getty Images

As Moldova prepares for a crucial parliamentary election on Sunday, Russia is ramping up its efforts to interfere in the vote, officials say, in what they describe as a brazen attempt to halt the westward lurch of the former Soviet state and install a government more pliant to Moscow.

In a national address this week, President Maia Sandu warned that the Kremlin is spending “hundreds of millions of euros” in a ploy to buy Moldovans’ votes, “intoxicate” them with disinformation online, and recruit provocateurs to stoke “disorder, violence and fear.”

“If Russia gains control over Moldova, the consequences will be immediate and dangerous for the en