Moldova detains 74 people over an alleged Russia-backed unrest plot around key election

The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said that some of the suspects didn’t know the real purpose of their trips, which were presented as pilgrimages, and only later became involved in "training for disorder and destabilization." Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said in a statement after the raids on Monday that the Kremlin is spending “hundreds of millions of euros” to try to sway the election. In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU and was granted candidate status that year.