The presidential elections in Moldova, which turned into shock therapy for the current pro-Western government, attracted the world's attention for several reasons. Writes the BBC.

"In the conditions when Russia is in international isolation, any state that recognizes Russia as a friendly state that obeys its dictates is a great achievement of Russia's foreign policy. Therefore, they are fighting for Moldova with all their might. That's why they spend money here," says former Moldovan ambassador to Russia, political scientist Anatoli Taranu.

Official Chisinau, its Western partners, and various political scientists call the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor "the hand of Moscow" in Moldova.

Ilan Shor and his associates speak openly about their pro-Russian views. On May 9 of this year, he participated in the Victory Parade on Red Square with his close ally Marina Tauber and his protégé, Gagauzia leader Evgenia Gutsul. A week later, it became known that Shor had received Russian citizenship, and a few weeks later, in early June, he, together with Tauber and Gutsul, represented the "Moldovan Court" at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, where they were photographed with Vladimir Putin, Maria Zakharova and Alexander Dugin. In September, at the height of the election campaign in Moldova, the central figure of Russian propaganda, Margarita Simonyan, published a photo with Marina Tauber on the Telegram channel, calling her a brave, intelligent, and beautiful woman.

Moldova has become a laboratory for Russian experiments, which, if successful, Russia can apply in other countries.

Ilan Shor lives outside of Moldova, but his presence in the country is felt almost physically.

From abroad, he manages several media outlets that previously belonged to Moldovan socialists. He appointed his close friend as the head of Gagauzia and, in 2022, organized a series of protests against the backdrop of the energy crisis. He is now trying to bring Moldova to a sharp political turn.

Maya Sandu won the elections, and the European integration referendum ended in favor of Europe, albeit by a small margin.

Shore managed to show that the government of Moldova does not currently have effective mechanisms to fight external influence.

According to political scientists, Moldovan society has never left Russia's information field. Even ethnic Moldovans who know Russian are subject to Russian propaganda. But there is almost no anti-propaganda in Moldova because it requires huge funds.