U.S. sanctions Russia-backed actors over Moldovan destabilization protests
The U.S. sanctioned a group of Russian-intelligence linked individuals Monday for their role in allegedly helping the Kremlin destabilize Moldova’s democratically elected government through protests in the nation’s capitol earlier this year
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. sanctioned a group of Russian-intelligence linked individuals Monday for their role in allegedly helping the Kremlin destabilize Moldova's democratically-elected government through protests in Moldova's capitol earlier this year.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven members of a group linked to sanctioned Moldovan oligarch, Ilan Shor, currently in exile in Israel, and leader of Moldova's pro-Russia Shor Party.
The Shor Party supports a group calling itself Movement for the People, which organized the anti-government protest in Moldova’s capital earlier this year. The protestors demanded that the country’s pro-Western government fully subsidize citizens’ winter energy bills and to “not involve the country in war.”
Moldovan police in March said they foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were trained to cause mass unrest during the protest.
