By EUvsDisinfo
On 28 September, President Maia Sandu and the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) scored a landslide victory in the Moldovan parliamentary elections. The PAS won more than 50 per cent of the vote, giving the party control of the parliament and hence giving Moldova a firm pro-EU orientation. The victory came despite a massive pro-Russian FIMI campaign that targeted Sandu and the PAS.
The Kremlin has carried out many campaigns of this kind before to influence and subvert other countries’ elections, all while accusing Western countries of the very same actions. Typically, the Kremlin sets the narrative and relies upon state outlets and a dark galaxy of semi-official or covert outlets to spread the word. As of late, an unexpected source of pro-Russian narratives has emerged: the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
Normally, intelligence services operate quietly in the background. But lately, the SVR has done something unusual: it’s been putting out official public statements. In effect, these press releases mostly serve to amplify the very false claims the SVR hopes its covert influence campaigns will plant in people’s minds. Recently, it has gone on record in three different countries. Here is a closer look.
Moldova resists the disinformation onslaught
In Moldova the Kremlin spared no effort in its attempts to influence the elections. One investigation found, for example, that activists affiliated with a pro-Russian party received daily training on how to conduct ‘information warfare’ by spreading divisive disinformation. Among the many misleading narratives pushed by the Kremlin’s FIMI machinery included false claims that the EU wants to use Moldovans to fight against Russia, that EU membership would force foreign values on the Moldovan society, and that Sandu herself was once diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Such narratives are commonplace in Russian FIMI campaigns targeting Moldova. But this time, the SVR got into the act, in a manipulative effort to give a guise of credibility to the disinformation. In an official statement, the intelligence agency accused the EU of planning to use NATO forces to occupy Moldova after the elections. The accusations were specific: NATO units were allegedly already in Romania, near the Moldovan border, and their plan was to carry out a military landing near Odessa.
Needless to say, there was no substance behind these accusations; the election came and no such intervention followed.
Serbian protesters smeared
Earlier this month, SVR also asserted that the EU is plotting a Serbian ”Maidan”. The allegation represents the latest version of an enduring disinformation narrative that the EU is the one responsible for staging colour revolutions in countries whose governments it doesn’t like. In fact, the ongoing protests in Serbia that broke out in mid-December 2024 have little to do with the EU. They began in the aftermath of a canopy collapse at a railway station in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. Protesters blame the incident on corruption and the perceived lack of accountability and transparency at government level.
Georgian NGOs targeted
Last year, the SVR also carried out an orchestrated campaign alleging that Georgia’s Western partners are trying to carry out yet another colour revolution, this time in Tbilisi. On 26 August 2024 the SVR released a statement saying that the US was plotting to carry out such a coup ahead of Georgia’s October parliamentary elections. Yet again, the supposed coup never happened.
The EU has not escaped such accusation. Earlier this year, the SVR alleged that the EU is funding student protesters in the country. In doing so, it slandered an NGO, Georgian Youth for Europe, falsely claiming that the EU Representation in Tbilisi was offering 50,000 euros to ‘progressive’ projects that demand ‘loyalty to the West’.
The SVR may be secretive, but its false claims lie in plain sight. Don’t be deceived.
Also on our disinformation radar this week
- Following recent airspace incidents involving NATO members, the pro-Kremlin information ecosystem has pushed the narrative that Western states are fabricating pretexts for direct confrontation with Russia. After a violation of Polish airspace by drones on 9 and 10 September, Russian officials denied any involvement. However, these incidents were used as a fuel for another disinformation narrative asserting that Ukraine will organise a false flag attack against NATO bases in Poland and Romania using repaired Geran drones. Thus, framing Ukraine as an aggressive, warmongering country trying to drag NATO into a war with Russia. Ironically, the false claim backfired by revealing that Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace.
- Another know pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portrays protests in Georgia, and other locations, as symptoms of an upcoming Western-sponsored colour revolution.
Russian FIMI outlets alleged that the UK is preparing to carry out a revolution in Georgia during the upcoming local elections in the country. The supposed plan involves Georgian activists allegedly trained in Lithuania. No evidence exists for this claim. - Finally, several outlets ran stories claiming that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) is completely safe under Russian control. The absolutist tone is enough to inspire concern. In fact, the ZNPP recently suffered its tenth complete loss of offsite power since the full-scale invasion’s start in February 2022. A single remaining power line providing electricity to the plant has been recently damaged, and the International Atomic Energy Agency team assigned to the ZNPP has not yet managed to visit the power line to inspect it. The ZNPP is currently relying on emergency diesel generators to cool its six shutdown reactors and to perform other essential safety maintenance. When the Kremlin says don’t worry, a bit of worry is usually in order.
By EUvsDisinfo
