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New Kremlin-Linked Influence Campaign Targeting Moldovan Elections Draws 17 Million Views on X and Infects AI Models

As Moldova prepares for watershed elections this Sunday that will decide whether it continues its European trajectory, or pivots back to Russia, the Kremlin-linked Storm-1516 Russian disinformation operation generates huge traffic

By Eva Maitland, Alice Lee, Madeline Roache | Published on Sept. 26, 2025

 

Days before Moldova holds pivotal elections on Sunday, the Kremlin-linked Storm-1516 propaganda machine has succeeded in spreading false claims of corruption targeting the former Soviet republic’s pro-Europe government, NewsGuard has found. Unlike the Matryoshka campaign identified by NewsGuard in July 2025, which generated modest engagement online, the Storm-1516 claims have drawn 17.7 million views on X and appeared in 2,842 online posts — about a country with a population of 2.4 million. 

NewsGuard also found that the largest AI chatbots were infected with these false claims, responding inaccurately more than one third of the time on prompts asking about the Russian false claims.

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