Moldovaʼs pro-Russian forces protested in the center of Chisinau. The protesters, mostly of retirement age, took with them posters criticizing the current government and Orthodox icons.
The Shor party, which openly sympathizes with Russia, also came to the rally. The first clashes between citizens and the police have already been recorded. More than 50 people were detained.
Newsmaker notes that the PACE party and the Association of Scutul Poporului law enforcement agencies have refused to participate in the actions. This happened when the authorities on March 11 warned of possible mass unrest during the protests.
The head of the National Police, Viorel Cherneutsanu, said that there are Russian provocateurs among the protesters. The Russian Federation wants to destabilize the situation in Moldova. According to him, 10 groups of 10 people were formed for the riots. The police detained seven members of the groups the day before.
At the same time, at 12:50 p.m., a call was received with a message that a bomb had allegedly been planted at the Chisinau airport, Newsmaker writes. Airport employees and passengers were evacuated from the building.
To date, there have already been four false bomb calls in Chisinau.
- The day before, the CNN TV channel, citing American intelligence, wrote that persons connected to Russia are trying to provoke an uprising against the government of Moldova. This was previously stated by the Ukrainian intelligence service, which handed over this data to the government of Maya Sandu.
- According to the US, Russia is working to weaken the Moldovan government, which seeks closer ties with the European Union. They also see signs that Russian government-linked figures may be training anti-government demonstrators in Moldova.
- In October 2022, the Shor party was added to the US sanctions list as a movement associated with Ilar Shor, who was sanctioned by the US for organizing riots to undermine the democratic development of Moldova.