It’s tiny; it’s one of the poorest countries in Europe; and I’d be willing to bet that most people outside of Europe have no idea of its exact location or the name of its capital (Chisinau).

But the small nation of Moldova — formerly the Soviet republic of Moldavia — is of strategic importance to Russia because of its situation between southwestern Ukraine and Romania, making it the perfect buffer zone, and stepping stone, between east and west should Vladimir Putin succeed in his quest to take possession of Ukraine.

It should therefore not be at all surprising to learn that Russia has been teaching Moldovan citizens to foment unrest in advance of their recent parliamentary elections in order to swing the votes in favor of Russia-friendly candidates. What is surprising is that they used a holiday resort in Serbia as a training camp.

Serbia, while retaining its traditional close ties to Moscow, has also been trying to build economic relations with the West. This revelation has thus proven inconvenient — even embarrassing — to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has said the information about the training camp was received, not from Serbia’s own security services, but from private sources — indicating a likely cover-up. In an interview on October 5th, Vucic said:

“If there’s one thing we do well, it’s processing of foreign citizens. It was impossible for us not to notice. We did not notice because someone wanted us not to notice.” [Iva Martinovic, et al., RFE/RL, October 12, 2025.]

Gee . . . you think?

Serbian authorities have since made two arrests, unofficially identified by local media as Serbian citizens Lazar Popovic and Savo Stevanovic. Both men were formerly advisers to Nenad Popovic, a minister without portfolio who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for his ties to Russia. [Id.]

Locals in the nearby village have said they noticed Russian-speaking customers in the area. And RFE/RL has discovered a fitness app registered to one Sergei Andreenkov that shows him taking his regular morning run along a route that began within the resort complex. Andreenkov is an activist for Putin’s United Russia party, and has received a Russian Defense Ministry award for “strengthening the defense of the Russian Federation.” [Id.]

And Moldovan police have released a video of a suspect who has admitted traveling to Serbia, and who said:

“They taught us to use walkie-talkies, showed us recordings of some Russian rallies, and told us what we should and should not do.” [Id.]

*. *. *

The Kremlin, of course, has denied any involvement in the alleged training camp. But then, Moscow always denies everything.

The question is — not whether anyone believes them any longer — but how long before we stop thinking it can’t happen here . . . and realize that it already has.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/13/25