Moldova's election under siege: Russian interference exposed
Photos and recordings have surfaced online confirming Russian interference in the presidential elections in Moldova. They show crowds outside a polling station in Minsk and organized groups of Moldovans living in Russia being transported to the voting site by supervisors.
Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern Time in Moldova. Votes could be cast until 9:00 AM Eastern Time in the second round of the presidential elections. The incumbent president, Maia Sandu, and former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo are competing for the highest office.
Since the morning, media outlets have been reporting on overseas voting, including "organized transports" of Moldovans from Russia to the polling station in Minsk.
Photos and recordings appearing on social media confirm these reports. They show, among other things, a crowd eager to vote in Minsk.
Russians want to influence the election results
Even before the second round of the presidential elections, the authorities in Chișinău warned about the risk of Kremlin interference in the results. Electoral committees in Western Europe also warned, among other things, about false bomb threats.
One should also expect "organized voting," which involves transporting groups of voters from Transnistria, instructed to vote for Stoianoglo. A novelty in these elections is the "free transports" for Moldovan citizens from Russia. Some of them are to be brought to the country by bus from Istanbul, where flights from Russia arrive.
Two other destinations are Minsk and Baku, where "election flights" from Russia are also organized.
Source: PAP, X, WP Wiadomości
