Moldova accuses Russian special services of preparing mass protests

The head of Moldova's General Police Commissariat, Viorel Cernauteanu, has said that Russian special services were involved in preparing actions to destabilize the situation during mass opposition demonstrations in Moldova.

"The police have operative information about the preparation by the intelligence services of the Russian Federation of actions to destabilise the situation in Moldova, which were planned for opposition protests, including today's," Cernauteanu said at a briefing before the rally, TASS reports.

According to him, ten groups consisting of five to ten people were formed in Moldova and had to undergo special training.

Their activity was allegedly coordinated by a person who had arrived from Russia.
Cernauteanu also says that 25 alleged participants were brought to the police, seven were detained later and were cooperating with the investigation at the moment.

The SOR party leaders earlier had assured that the action would be peaceful.

On March 11, however, the party accused the police of intimidating its activists. They reported that the party members received threatening phone calls with criminal charges in almost every district of the country. This week, police conducted another large-scale search at party cells, confiscating large sums of money.

Moldova has had a state of emergency for more than a year, which was imposed with the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. During this period, all mass events were banned and opposition TV channels were closed. Nevertheless, the Moldovan opposition has been holding rallies almost weekly since last summer. Periodically, during these actions, clashes with the police occur, who try to block the movement of the column in the city centre.

The demonstrators accuse the authorities of failing to cope with rising prices, record inflation for the past 20 years, which amounted to 30 per cent in 2022. They also criticize for confrontation with Russia and militarization. The rallies include slogans calling for the for the dissolution of parliament and the resignation of President Maia Sandu.