AUTHOR: ANDREI RUSU – DISINFORMATION MONITORING EXPERT, WATCHDOG.MD
Between July 30 and August 4, 2025, a fake story published on a cloned version of the American website okmagazine.us was turned into a coordinated informational operation, with multi-language distribution involving over 25 Telegram and X accounts, as well as media infrastructures already associated with the Doppelganger and News-Pravda campaigns. Target: Maia Sandu, ahead of the expected parliamentary elections. The story, deliberately designed to shock and go viral, was first published on July 30, 2025, at 11:51 UTC, and later edited at 14:12 UTC. It was amplified in an ecosystem combining Western media clones, Russian propaganda accounts, and pro-Russian influencers offering a veneer of legitimacy. The central theme – a woman, a political leader, allegedly purchasing sperm from gay celebrities in order to conceive a child, was carefully tailored to simultaneously trigger disgust related to sexuality, gender, and social status in a conservative electorate. The fake news is no accident, it’s a “condemnation” of a woman in politics meant to hit multiple audiences ahead of Moldova’s elections. The Russian Federation is becoming increasingly involved in Moldova’s parliamentary elections, aiming to install a pro-Kremlin government in Chișinău. To achieve this, a massive smear campaign was launched targeting President Maia Sandu and visible members of the current administration, whose image may bring votes to the Party of Action and Solidarity. The campaign’s target, judging by the infrastructure used, at least at this stage, appears to be audiences outside the Republic of Moldova.