Moldova ’s deputy PM blames Russia for an election cyberattack, calling it part of a planned hybrid campaign to destabilize democracy.
Moldova Deputy Prime Minister Doina Nistor blamed Russia for a cyberattack targeting the country’s Central Electoral Commission last week, ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary election.
Nistor said that threat actors targeted a weekness that was now secured.
“This was a vulnerability that was identified and is now fixed,” the country’s deputy prime minister and digital minister, told POLITICO.
The attacks were part of a wider hybrid campaign to destabilize Moldova’s elections, using DDoS via hijacked routers. Officials warn of heavy meddling and EU test-bed role.
The cyber and hybrid attacks targeting Moldova’s elections present an alarming precedent for Western democracies. These operations, often attributed to Russian hybrid warfare, employ AI-driven disinformation, cyber intrusions, orchestrated unrest, and youth radicalization to undermine electoral integrity and public trust. Moldova acts as a testbed, what works here may soon be weaponized against other Western countries holding major elections in the next months, including Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Romania, Iceland, United States.
“This makes us a natural test bed for Europe, a place where we can test new tools [and] new policies.” Nistor added.
“The scale of Russian interference today far exceeds what we saw in 2024.” said tanislav Secrieru, national security adviser to Sandu. “We’re seeing unprecedented efforts: more money to buy votes, more AI-driven disinformation amplified by troll networks, and more resources dedicated to orchestrating street violence. Russia is pulling out all the stops to tip this election,” he told POLITICO.
The risks are profound: manipulation of public opinion, destabilization of governments, and erosion of democratic legitimacy. Defending against these tactics demands resilience in institutions, election monitoring, civil society engagement, and robust cybersecurity, otherwise, these hybrid threats will expand and mutate, striking at the very heart of open societies.
The good news is the Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU party won the election with a clear majority, despite the massive Russian interference.
The EU deployed its new cyber reserve to Moldova under the Cyber Solidarity Act, marking the first use, while the U.S. and countries like Romania, Sweden, Estonia, and the UK also provide support.
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