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The Kremlin-backed disinformation network “Matryoshka” has launched a new wave of attacks aimed at undermining Moldovan President Maia Sandu. The flood of disinformation is timed to coincide with the upcoming EU summit in Moldova, which will take place in Chișinău on July 4. The details of the new campaign were shared with The Insider by the watchdog project Bot Blocker (@antibot4navalny).
As part of the campaign, one video — falsely branded as reporting by The Insider — claims in English that European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas refused to attend the summit in Chișinău due to tensions with Sandu. Previously the bots spread the false rumor that European officials are plotting to push Kallas out of office by replacing her with Sandu. The latest video also falsely references Bot Blocker, alleging the project uncovered evidence that Sandu was spreading false information about Kallas — claims that are, again, entirely fabricated.
The broader campaign pushing a fictional narrative of a rivalry between Sandu and Kallas first emerged in late May. Then, on June 19, Matryoshka bots began distributing fake videos en masse. Analysts from Bot Blocker believe the timing was chosen to sabotage the Moldova-EU summit. As previously reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, EU officials see the event as a symbolic recognition of Sandu’s reform efforts and a sign of political support ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections on Sept. 28. This vote is particularly important given that Sandu’s party, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), has been seeing a drop in its approval ratings.
Some from among the latest wave of videos, which began spreading widely on June 23, openly mention the summit. One, disguised as a Euronews report, falsely claims that Romanian intelligence warned European leaders of a potential terrorist threat and “recommended [they] apply unprecedented security measures.”
Another video, styled to appear like content from French outlet Le Point, claims that the EU leadership is unhappy with Sandu and is preparing to remove her from office — though it does not explain how — citing her apparent failure to “steer [Moldova] on a European path.”
Other videos accuse Sandu’s government of corruption, of wasting excessive funds on preparations for the summit instead of solving “real problems,” and of suppressing political opposition. One of the more bizarre claims is that the Moldovan government extended the legal period for registering citizens' deaths from three days to three months — allegedly in order to create “ghost voters” for the purpose of carrying out election fraud.
Matryoshka launched its first large-scale campaign against Sandu in April. At the time, fake videos styled to resemble reports by international media and academic institutions accused her of winning the presidency through the use of propaganda and persecution against political opponents.
The Insider has obtained links to the original tweets and supporting documentation from the Bot Blocker project proving that the accounts sharing the videos are part of the “Matryoshka” network. To prevent the further dissemination of disinformation, The Insider is not publishing direct links to the misleading content.