"Priests and matryoshka dolls": Sandu again accused Russia of interfering in Moldovan parliamentary elections

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has once again accused Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of the state. This time, according to the politician, Russia will interfere in the parliamentary elections, using priests (apparently of the Orthodox Church of Moldova — ed.) and a network of bots called Matryoshka. She told the Financial Times in an interview.

«The Russians are targeting the diaspora,» she said, accusing Moscow of using Russian Orthodox priests to spread propaganda and deploying the Matryoshka network of bots to create fake content posing as legitimate foreign media.

The Moldovan president is concerned about a possible repeat of the 2024 presidential campaign, when «Russian agents spread false bomb threats at Moldovan polling stations abroad, particularly in Germany.»

Sandu also called on the EU to support the country in this matter.

Recall, earlier Moldovan President Maia Sandu once again said that Russia allegedly uses the Orthodox Church of Moldova in its interests in order to strengthen control over the Republic. Sandu claims that Moldovans going on pilgrimage trips to Russia are being trained to organize and hold mass protests.