Moldova smashes pro-Moscow subversion ring: police

(ANSA-AFP) - CHISINAU-CRIS, 12 MAR - Moldovan police said Sunday they had arrested members of a network "orchestrated by Moscow" in a bid to destabilise the small ex-Soviet nation as an anti-government protest kicked off. After searches on Saturday night, 25 men were questioned and seven of them detained, police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told media. An agent managed to infiltrate the group led by a Moldovan-Russian, he said, adding that the prosecution had recorded 10 hours of video and audio.

"People came from Russia with a very specific training role," the official added. The Moldovan authorities said they acted after "receiving information on the organisation by Russian special services of destabilising actions on our territory via demonstrations". The party of fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilhan Shor has again mobilised people in recent weeks against the pro-European government, amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Chisinau. (ANSA-AFP).

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