Moldova’s Upcoming Elections Hit by New Russian Disinformation Campaign

Moldova’s parliamentary elections on September 28, 2025, are under threat from a coordinated disinformation offensive that reuses code and hosting infrastructure dating back to 2022.

Analysts mapping the campaign identified identical JavaScript modules, CSS classes, and URL routing patterns across the 2025 Moldovan disinformation domains, which were hosted on dedicated IP ranges 95.181.226[.]135 and 91.218.228[.]51, as well as those of absatz[.]media, a Russian propaganda site registered in 2022.

Two additional domains, abzac[.]media (redirecting to absatz[.]media) and an as-yet unnamed host on 5.188.179[.]181, share these technical fingerprints but lack direct Moldova references.

This consistent reuse of hardened infrastructure strongly suggests a shared developer or organizational control, rather than an ad-hoc template adaptation.

Sanctioned Editor’s Footprint on Both Campaigns

Absatz’s Roskomnadzor registration (EL № FS77–82992) discloses “Editor-in-Chief Shakhnazarov M. S.” and founder LLC “Intaria,” headquartered at Moscow’s Butyrsky Val 68/70.

Corporate registries confirm that Ukraine sanctioned Mikhail Sergeyevich Shakhnazarov for supporting disinformation controls at LLC Intaria.

Although absatz[.]The media portrays itself as an independent outlet; however, the shared code artifacts and hosting overlap imply either direct operational control by this sanctioned actor or close collaboration via contracted developers.

Coordinated Cross-Platform Disinformation Narratives

Content analysis of absatz[.]media uncovers dozens of Russian-language articles attacking Moldova’s pro-EU government, election integrity, and key institutions.

Headlines like “The Central Election Commission of Moldova did not allow the bloc ‘Victory’ to participate” and “Ambassador summoned for Vienna Convention violations” mirror narratives disseminated in Romanian-language TikTok videos and Facebook ads aimed at depressing voter turnout.

By aligning technical infrastructure with consistent messaging across languages and platforms, the campaign achieves a multi-layered influence strategy tailored for both domestic and diaspora audiences.

As Moldova nears its pivotal vote, cybersecurity teams and election authorities must implement robust domain-based filtering, monitor certificate transparency logs, and pursue rapid takedowns of the identified domains.

International partners can bolster these defenses by sharing the discovered technical fingerprints and blocking the associated infrastructure, safeguarding Moldova’s democratic process against persistent Kremlin hybrid-warfare tactics.

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