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Police in Moldova said they foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were trained to cause mass unrest during a Sunday protest against the country’s new pro-Western government. The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said in a news conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated groups of “diversionists,” some Russian citizens, who allegedly were promised $10,000 to organize “mass disorder” during the protest in the capital, Chisinau. Seven people were detained, he said. Separately, police said they arrested 54 protesters, including 21 minors, who exhibited “questionable behavior” or were found to be carrying prohibited items, including at...

Protesters in the center of Chisinau ended the rally by issuing an ultimatum to the authorities The rally of the "Movement for the People" in the center of Chisinau ended with the adoption of a resolution demanding that the government pay bills for heating and electricity, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. "We demand that the authorities pay for all bills for gas, electricity and heat for all citizens of the country for three winter months. This is our ultimatum demand. We give the government 24 hours to implement our demands<" said Maria Tauber, vice charman of the Shor party...

Russian forces broke through the Ukrainian defense lines north of Avdiivka, with Russian forces fighting within Krasnohorivka and Kamyanka. Both towns might be captured in coming days. Russian continues it's offensives on multiple fronts: Vuhledar, Marinka region of the Donetsk Front, Avdiivka Front, Bakhmut Front, Siversk Front, Kreminna Front and Kupyansk Front Watch the entire video for the full Situation Report (SITREP).

The US intelligence community believes that individuals with ties to Russian intelligence are planning to stage protests in Moldova to try to foment a manufactured insurrection against the Moldovan government, with the ultimate goal of seeing a more pro-Russia administration installed there, White House officials said Friday. The US believes that Russia is working to weaken the Moldovan government which is seeking closer ties with the European Union, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said, The US is also seeing signs that Russian government-linked actors could provide training to anti-government demonstrators in Moldova. The country’s capital, Chisinau,...

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that people with ties to Russian intelligence are planning to stage protests in hopes of toppling the Moldovan government, according to the White House. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the intelligence shows that actors, some connected with Russian intelligence, are seeking to stage and use protests in Moldova as a basis to foment an insurrection against Moldova’s new pro-Western government. Kirby said the intelligence shows that another set of Russian actors would provide training and help manufacture demonstrations in Moldova, which was granted European Union candidate status in June, on the...

The United States accused Russia on Friday of seeking to destabilize Moldova and said it would help the Eastern European country fight off such attempts by sharing information and providing other assistance, the White House said. The United States agrees with Moldovan President Maia Sandu's view that there is no imminent military threat from Russia but shares her concern that Moscow is trying to destabilize her country to install a more pro-Russian government, John Kirby, the White House's national security spokesperson, said in a briefing. "As Moldova continues to integrate with Europe, we believe Russia is pursuing options to weaken...

Pro-Moscow authorities in Moldova's separatist region of Transdniestria, which borders Ukraine, have claimed they prevented a terror attack organised by Kyiv against separatist officials. Security officials said in a statement they had halted 'a terror attack... directed by Ukrainian security services, being prepared against a number of officials,' including Transdniestria's leader Vadim Krasnoselsky. 'The suspects have been detained. They have given confessions,' the report claimed, providing no further information. The comments were published by Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti and come on the same day that the Moldovan parliament adopted a declaration condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, prompting suspicions...

In February, Moldovan president Maia Sandu publicly accused Russia of plotting to overthrow her government — an allegation first made days before by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia quickly denied the claim and turned the tables, accusing Ukraine of planning a false flag attack against the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria. In Moldova, pro-Russian voices dismissed the coup plot as Moldovan propaganda. "They say that this all is a hoax," said Valeriu Paşa, chairman of WatchDog.MD, a think tank based in Moldova's capital, Chisinau. "[They say] President Sandu [is using] these scary stories in order to make people forget about...

NATO's deputy secretary general has said Moldova should be less afraid of Russia, amid growing concerns over the security situation in the former Soviet republic. Speaking to Romanian television channel Prima TV on Saturday, Mircea Geoană accused Russia of putting "enormous pressure" on the Republic of Moldova "on all fronts."

Moldova's parliament adopted a declaration on Thursday condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has contributed to a rise in tensions between Moscow and Chisinau. A narrow majority of 55 lawmakers in the 101-seat assembly voted for the declaration, which stated that Moscow's invasion began with the seizure of the Crimea peninsula in February 2014 and demanded the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine. The declaration said Russia was waging an illegal, unprovoked and unfounded war of aggression in Ukraine that violated the principles of international law, and echoed calls by Kyiv for an international tribunal to prosecute war...

The Defense Ministry of the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova said on Tuesday that the next military exercise by the “peacekeeping contingent” in the region will begin on March 1. "The peacekeeping contingent of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic continues to accept applications for participation in the next three-month training camp from March 1," the ministry said in a statement. The statement came a day after the head of the breakaway Transnistria region, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said there is “no real danger” in the region, amid claims by Russia that Ukraine is preparing an "armed provocation" in the region.

A new anti-government protest in Moldova's capital Tuesday stirred fears of more unrest after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to demand that the country’s new pro-Western government fully subsidize citizens’ winter energy bills and to “not involve the country in war.” The protest in Chisinau was organized by a group calling itself Movement for the People and supported by members of Moldova’s Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the country’s 101-seat legislature.

Tensions are mounting in Moldova, a small country on Ukraine’s southwestern border, where Russia has been accused of laying the groundwork for a coup that could drag the nation into the Kremlin’s war. Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, has accused Russia of using “saboteurs” disguised as civilians to stoke unrest amid a period of political instability, echoing similar warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile baselessly accused Kyiv of planning its own assault on a pro-Russian territory in Moldova where Moscow has a military foothold, heightening fears that he is creating a pretext for a Crimea-style...

Russia told the West on Friday that it would view as an attack on itself any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, one day after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning an invasion. In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected Moscow's assertion that Ukraine wanted to take over the region, while Moldova reiterated there was no truth to the allegations. The warning comes amid increased concerns in Moldova, a small ex-Soviet republic bordering Ukraine, of a possible Russian threat. Its pro-European President Maia Sandu this month accused Moscow of plotting a coup. On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of...

Russia told the West on Friday that it would view as an attack on itself any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, one day after Moscow accused Ukraine of deploying troops near the region's border. The warning comes amid increased concerns in Moldova, a small ex-Soviet republic bordering Ukraine, of a possible Russian threat to its own independence. Its pro-European president, Maia Sandu, this month accused Moscow of plotting to overthrow Moldova's government. On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of planning to invade Transdniestria, which borders Ukraine. The mainly Russian-speaking territory broke from Moldova's control in 1990,...

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis discussed energy, economic and security issues in Bucharest Thursday with his visiting Moldovan counterpart, as the two neighbors seek to boost ties amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Iohannis' office said the talks with Moldovan President Maia Sandu would aim to bring her country closer to the 27-nation European Union, to which Romania belongs. Afterwards, Sandu said Moldova’s strategic partnership with NATO-member Romania is yielding "concrete benefits." (snip) Sandu’s visit came a week after she claimed Moscow was allegedly plotting to overthrow Moldova’s government, put the nation "at the disposal of Russia," and derail its aspirations to...

The authorities of Moldova have been ready to sabotage the runway of Chisinau International Airport since the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The plan, meant to curb a potential invasion of Moldova by Russia, was revealed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu to the local channel Jurnal TV. -snip- Among the feared scenario, Moldova’s government worried that Chisinau International Airport could be taken over by Russian forces and used as a bridgehead to launch an invasion of both Moldova and Ukraine. A similar tactic was attempted during Russia’s initial offensive on Ukraine, with...

Moldova dismissed an accusation by Russia's defence ministry on Thursday that Ukraine planned to invade the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria after staging a false flag operation, and called for calm. The defence ministry said the purported plan by Ukraine - which borders Moldova - posed "a direct threat" to Russian troops in the Russian-speaking region. "The armed forces of the Russian Federation will adequately respond to the impending provocation of the Ukrainian side," it said in a statement. It added that Ukraine planned to stage an attack by purported Russian forces from Transdniestria as a pretext for the invasion.

Moldova's pro-EU leaders have rejected Russian claims that Ukraine is planning to attack the country's breakaway pro-Russian territory, and called for calm. Russia's defence ministry alleged, with no evidence, that Ukrainian saboteurs would stage an invasion of Transnistria dressed as Russian soldiers as a pretext for a Ukrainian invasion. Moldova has warned for weeks that Russia is plotting to seize power. And officials rejected Russia's claims as "psy-ops" as part of the war. "The defence ministry believes it is an element of a psychological operation rather than a real plan," said state secretary Valeriu Mija. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, on...

The US Government has told i that it is “deeply concerned” by reports of a Kremlin-backed coup to overthrow the Government of Moldova. The message from Washington comes as fears grow that Vladimir Putin is plotting to take the capital city and use its airport to open a western front the war in Ukraine. “The United States firmly supports Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a US State Department spokesperson told i. “We are deeply concerned by reports of a plot by Russia to destabilise Moldova’s democratically elected government. Russia has a long history of malign influence, both in Moldova and...