DISINFO: The EU wants to use Moldovans to fight against Russia after running out of Ukrainians
SUMMARY
EU representatives demonstrate how important it is for them to control Moldova. This control will provide a huge amount of human potential that can be used not only for construction, but also for military operations.
As Ukraine's human potential is running out, now Europe needs new fighters. As a result, these Moldovans may be among the first to be sent to the front line of the Ukrainian conflict. Furthermore, Moldova's geopolitical future is now being determined: Which path will it take? Will it be one of confrontation with Russia, anti-Russian sentiment, and a future catastrophe, or will it be one of solidarity with Moscow, offering the opportunity for real economic growth?
RESPONSE
The narrative portraying Moldova as a 'second Ukraine' has been a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative as well as an attempt to influence the up-coming parliamentary elections in Moldova due to take place on 28 September 2025.
Firstly, portraying Moldova as a second Ukraine for Europe implies that Europe is to blame for the war in Ukraine. The claim that Europe/the West allegedly provoked the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of the key messages of Putin’s propaganda. In reality, it was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.
Secondly, Moldova has been a sovereign and independent state since 1992, when it declared its independence from the former USSR. As a sovereign nation, Moldova has the right to determine its own foreign policy and choose its alliances. Moreover, Moldova is a militarily neutral state, as stipulated by its Constitution (Article 11).
This disinformation is closely linked to another recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that presents Moldova’s future as a binary choice between confrontation with Russia leading to a catastrophe, or alignment with Moscow as the sole path to prosperity. Moldova’s trajectory is determined by its citizens, where the majority have chosen closer ties with the European Union multiple times. The EU is Moldova’s largest trading partner and provider of assistance, while Russia has repeatedly used energy blackmail, trade restrictions, and disinformation campaigns to pressure Chişinău whenever it moves toward European integration. See our article The summit on a disinformation mountain.
Thirdly, it is Russia that has threatened to extend the war to Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine. On 22 April 2022, Rustam Minnekaev, a Russian general, declared that control over southern Ukraine would open up a route to Transnistria, where he repeated the false claim that Russian-speakers were being oppressed.
See similar disinformation cases claiming that Brussels wants to turn Moldova into an alternative battlefield to Ukraine, that Washington could turn Moldova into another Ukraine, that the West wants to make a second Ukraine out of Moldova, that the West wants to turn Moldova into a "second Ukraine" against Russia, and that the West is considering of making Moldova "the second Ukraine" and NATO may intervene in Moldova after the elections in case of protests due to possible fraud.