At a classified briefing in December 2025, Vladimir Putin told Russian military commanders that the objective for 2026 is the 'collapse of NATO and the EU from within', The New York Times reported, citing officials from two countries familiar with the meeting. In public around the same time, Putin dismissed reports of a Russian threat to European countries as 'lies, nonsense' and 'hysteria'.
According to Western intelligence officials, conquering Ukraine ranks first in the Kremlin's hierarchy of goals, with establishing control over Moldova second. Putin, it is alleged, plans to seize territory in southern Ukraine to create a land corridor linking Russia to Moldova, which could serve as a staging ground for further aggression.
To destabilize Moldova, Russia used a range of methods, the NYT reported. Ahead of the parliamentary elections in September 2025, the Kremlin invested resources in attempts to weaken President Maia Sandu and her party, including cyberattacks, disinformation, vote-buying and agitation.
Russia organized several training camps to prepare people for election interference. One was in western Serbia: participants were paid $400 for a three-to-four-day course, where they were taught to handle rifles, break through police cordons and set buildings on fire. According to Western intelligence sources, the instructors were operatives linked to the GRU. Another camp was located near Moscow, where more than 100 young Moldovans, according to the local prosecutor's office, were trained to make incendiary devices and improvised explosives.
The campaign also enlisted Moldovan priests. They traveled to Russia, received debit cards from Promsvyazbank there, and for a reward of $1,000 were to persuade parishioners to vote against the referendum on Moldova's accession to the European Union.
Moldovan authorities proved prepared for the interference. Weeks before the vote, police raided hundreds of homes and detained people who had undergone training, and cyberattacks on the Central Election Commission's database were repelled with support from Western allies. Sandu's party retained its parliamentary majority. 'We won the battle. But we have not won the war,' said Mihai Lupascu, director of Moldova's Cybersecurity Agency.
After the elections, the Kremlin expanded its influence efforts in Moldova, the NYT wrote. In March, according to the outlet, a Russian attack on a Ukrainian hydroelectric plant contaminated water supplies, including in Moldova. Later, Russian drones struck a high-voltage line in western Ukraine through which Moldova receives up to 70% of its electricity.