The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions against seven people linked to Russian intelligence and one legal entity involved in Moscowʼs efforts to destabilize the situation in Moldova.
"These individuals provoke, train and control groups in democratic countries that hold anti-government protests, rallies, marches and demonstrations," the US Treasury explains, emphasizing that some of them are connected to Russian special services.
Seven Russians, against whom sanctions have been introduced, are involved in the organization of several thousand anti-government protests in Moldova, initiated by fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.
They were related to the plan to seize the building of the Moldovan government and stage a coup dʼétat in the country. The operation was directed by a Russian instructor related to Mikhail Potepkin. He has been under U.S. sanctions since 2020 due to his ties to the "Wagner PMC" and his involvement in plans to suppress democratic protests in Oman.
The organizer of the group that was supposed to inspire a coup dʼétat in Moldova was the Russian Konstantin Sapozhnikov.
The rest of the participants had specific roles:
- Yuriy Makolov — engaged in material and technical support;
- Gleb Khloponin — collected data on the protection of government buildings;
- Svetlana Boyko — responsible for finances;
- Oleksey Losev — carried out intelligence (his enterprise, which produces ceramic lanterns, was also blacklisted);
- Vasiliy Gromovikov — helped with money;
- Anna Travnikova — together with Boyko promoted pro-Russian narratives.
On May 30, the Council of the European Union, as part of the new sanctions regime for the destabilization of Moldova, adopted sanctions against a number of people who shook the situation in the country.