CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovan police said on Sunday they thwarted a plan by specially trained pro-Russian officers to foment instability during a protest in the capital against the country’s new pro-Western government.
Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told a press conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated a group of “distractors”, some of whom were Russian citizens, who had been promised $10,000 to organize “mass riots” to destabilize Moldova during a demonstration in the capital, Chisinau. Seven people were arrested, he said.
In addition, police said they arrested 54 protesters, including 21 minors, on Sunday for demonstrating “questionable conduct” or carrying prohibited devices, including at least one knife.
Sunday’s demonstration was one of several held in recent weeks by a group calling itself the “People’s Movement”, backed by the pro-Russian Moldovan Shor party, which holds six of the 101 seats in the national legislature.
The protesters demand that the government fully fund energy services during the winter and “not lead the country into war”. They demand the resignation of President Maia Sandu.
Police reported four bomb threats on Sunday, including one at the capital’s international airport, calling it “continued destabilizing measures” against Moldova, a former Soviet republic of some 2.6 million people. residents.