A secret plan drawn up by Russia’s security service, the FSB, lays out detailed options for destabilizing Moldova – including supporting pro-Russian groups, using the Orthodox Church and threatening to cut off the supply of natural gas.
The document appears to have been drafted to thwart Moldova’s tilt to the West, which includes closer relations with NATO and a bid to join the European Union. He repeatedly refers to the importance of preventing Moldova from joining NATO.
It was obtained and first leaked by a media consortium, including VSquare and Frontstory, RISE Moldova, Expressen in Sweden, the Dossier Center for Investigative Journalism and other outlets.
CNN has seen the full document, which appears to have been drafted in 2021 by the FSB’s Cross-Border Cooperation Directorate. Its title is “Strategic Goals of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova”.
The document sets out a 10-year strategy to bring Moldova, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, into Russia’s sphere of influence.
The plan includes making Moldova dependent on Russian gas imports and stoking social strife, as well as trying to block Moldova’s efforts to gain influence in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, where some 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed.
Ukrainian border: Russia has accused Ukraine of planning to invade and take over Transnistria, which borders southwestern Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said last month that Ukrainians were gathering armor in several border villages. Both Moldova and Ukraine rejected the complaint.
Response from Russia: Asked about the document on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We do not know anything about the existence of such a plan. I do not exclude that it is another fake Russia has always been and remains open to establishing good-neighbourly and mutually beneficial relations, including with Moldova.
Peskov added: “We are very sorry that the current leaders of Moldova are experiencing completely unjustified and unfounded prejudice against Moscow.”
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