By Andrew Rose
America News World | September 21, 2025
CHISINAU, Moldova – A hidden group backed by Russia is paying people to post lies on social media. The goal? To hurt Moldova’s pro-EU leaders before the big vote on September 28. A BBC team went undercover and found out all about it.
Moldova sits between Ukraine and Romania, an EU country. It’s key for Europe and Russia. The ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), led by President Maia Sandu, wants to join the EU. Real polls show PAS leading with about 32% support, while pro-Russia groups like the Patriotic Electoral Bloc trail at 33% but face a tight race. 6 But this network is trying to change that.
The BBC’s reporter joined the group through a tip from a whistleblower. It runs on Telegram, a chat app. A woman named Alina Juc from Transnistria – a pro-Russia part of Moldova – runs things. She promised $170 a month for posts on TikTok and Facebook. The cash would come from a Russian bank tied to their army.
They taught recruits to use AI like ChatGPT for posts that look real. Early ones were about history. Then they got mean: Lies saying the government will cheat the vote, EU join means forcing LGBTQ+ ways on people, or Sandu sells kids into slavery. They pushed hashtags like #ChildTrafficking.
The network also paid $12 an hour for fake polls. Workers asked people who they’d vote for, then secretly recorded fans of pro-Russia sides. Juc said it’s to “stop vote rigging” if PAS wins. These polls claim PAS will lose – and they’re already online.
BBC found ties to Ilan Shor, a rich Moldovan now hiding in Moscow. The US, UK, and EU sanction him for corruption and Russia’s dirty tricks. 26 His group Evrazia, also sanctioned, links to the network. Last year, they bribed voters to skip EU membership – it passed by just 1%. Shor and Evrazia didn’t answer BBC questions.
The group has at least 90 TikTok accounts acting like news sites. Since January, they got 55 million views and 2.2 million likes – huge for a country of 2.4 million people. 0 US experts say it’s even bigger. On X, people are sharing the BBC story, calling it “Russian bots at work.” 17
Moldova’s top cop said: Last year it was cash bribes. This year, it’s lies online. 0 TikTok says it’s fighting tricks. Meta didn’t reply. Russia’s UK embassy denies it all, blaming the EU.
As the vote nears, Sandu calls it a fight for democracy. If Russia wins here, it could hurt Ukraine and Europe more. Watch for more chaos.
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