Russian Disinformation Campaign Targets Moldova’s Pro-EU Elections

Researchers at Silent Push have uncovered a Russian-linked disinformation campaign aimed at Moldova’s pro-European elections, with the vote due on 28 September 2025. The campaign has been attributed to the influence group Storm-1679 (a.k.a. Matryoshka), which has previously targeted events such as the 2024 Paris Olympics.

A unique technical fingerprint across Moldovan disinformation sites launched in 2025 pointed to absatz[.]media, a propaganda outlet registered in Russia in 2022 and overseen by Mikhail Sergeyevich Shakhnazarov, an editor sanctioned in Ukraine for supporting Russian disinformation, according to Silent Push.

The Moldovan disinformation domains were hosted on dedicated IP addresses, and the 2025 Moldovan sites reportedly have no clear ownership or declared authors, indicating operators may be trying to hide involvement and possible ties to the campaign. Silent Push notes that the campaign reused code and fingerprints first seen in 2022, suggesting continuity between Russian disinformation infrastructure and current election interference in Moldova. They also identified waves of low-quality social media accounts amplifying Absatz content across Twitter (X), Facebook, and TikTok.