Russia shifts focus to Armenia after regional setbacks, Moldovan president warns

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has warned that the Russian Federation is reassessing its political strategy following recent regional elections and intends to continue interfering in political processes across multiple countries, including Moldova, Armenia.

Sandu said Moscow is now shifting its focus to nations with forthcoming elections, aiming to preserve its control and influence across the post-Soviet space and even in established democracies, Caliber.Az reports, citing Moldovan media.

“The Russian Federation is still adjusting its strategy. They did not expect such results and are now trying to revise their plans. They will focus on other countries where elections are approaching. For example, Armenia will hold elections next year, and they will attempt to seize control of power,” Sandu stated in an interview with Romanian media.

The president stressed that countries in the region—particularly those bordering Ukraine—have increasingly become targets of Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

“The Kremlin sought to turn all countries at least into unfriendly or neutral actors regarding Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Unfortunately, it has managed to manipulate parts of our citizens as well as citizens of Romania,” she added.

Sandu highlighted Moldova’s direct experience with these tactics, which have included information attacks and disinformation campaigns targeting citizens both at home and abroad.

She also contrasted Russia’s methods of interference across countries:

“In the Republic of Moldova, Russian interference is obvious—people know who sold their votes to the Kremlin. In Romania, France, or Germany, Russia operates through propaganda and disinformation, which is much harder for citizens to detect,” she explained.

On the growing threat of cyberattacks and social media manipulation, the president noted that neither Moldova nor the European Union currently possesses effective mechanisms to counter such operations.

“Freedom of expression is one thing, but artificially amplified content funded by Moscow is something entirely different. We allow autocrats to exploit democratic freedoms to attack democracy,” Sandu emphasized.

The president called for stricter regulation of online platforms at both European and global levels.

“The Republic of Moldova is a small country; platforms neither communicate with us nor even follow their own rules. We need common standards adopted by the democratic world so that countries like ours are not forced to fight alone,” she concluded.

By Vafa Guliyeva