Foiled Russia-backed unrest plot, claim Moldovan police

Chisinau, March 12

The Moldovan police said on Sunday they have foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were specially trained to cause mass unrest during a protest the same day in the capital 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 had been promised $10,000 to organise “mass disorder” to destabilise Moldova during a protest in the capital, Chisinau. Seven persons were detained, he said.

Separately, police said they arrested 54 protesters on Sunday, including 21 minors, who exhibited “questionable behaviour” or were found to be carrying prohibited items, including at least one knife.

The protest on Sunday is one of the several held in recent weeks organised by a group calling itself Movement for the People, which is backed by Moldova’s Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the country’s 101-seat legislature.

The demonstrators are demanding that the government fully cover the costs of winter energy bills and to “not involve the country in war”. They have repeatedly called on President Maia Sandu to step down. Police said that four bomb threats on Sunday, including one at the capital’s international airport, had been registered, which they called “an ongoing part of the destabilisation measures” against Moldova, a former Soviet republic with an estimated population of 2.6 million.

Moldova’s border police also said on Sunday that 182 foreign nationals in the last week have been denied entry. — AP