The United States is sanctioning seven members of a Russian intelligence-linked group over alleged attempted "manufactured insurrection" against Moldova.
U S sanctions Russia-backed actors over Moldovan destabilization protests mynorthwest.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mynorthwest.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven members of a group linked to sanctioned Moldovan oligarch, Ilan Shor, currently in exile in Israel, and leader of Moldova's pro-Russia Shor Party.
CHISINAU An estimated 80,000 people packed into the center of the Moldovan capital last month for the largest pro-European Union gathering in years as the ties binding this tiny eastern European country to Russia fray amid the war in Ukraine. EU, NATO and Moldovan flags were visible all over Chisinau’s Great National Assembly Square on May 21 as attendees listened to speeches by Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu and the head of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. “The future is now!” shouted one member of the crowd as Sandu walked onstage to chants of “Maia Sandu” and “Europe.” Nearby streets were lined with buses that had brought participants to the rally from all over this formerly Soviet country of 2.6 million people, which is sandwiched between the EU and Ukraine. “With EU accession we will have so many more opportunities: the people who moved abroad can come back to their homeland,” said Eva-Marie, 26, referring to the tens of thousands of Mold
Recent protests in Moldova confirm that the ex-Soviet country is in the Kremlin's sights. If Putin manages to politically destabilize the ex-Soviet country, he could win an important ally in the war against Ukraine. The tactics are strikingly familiar to what the Kremlin pulled off in Donbas nine years ago.