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Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to polls


Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to polls


Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsGetty Images Ilan Shor - pictured here while running for election in 2019 - is seen shaking a woman's handGetty Images

Ilan Shor – pictured here while running for election in 2019 – fled the country before being sentenced in omitingia for covering money and theft

The sniffer dogs at Chisinau Airport have been toiling extra challenging in recent months, searching for money that might be evidence of Russian meddling in Melderlyovan politics.

Ami, a bconciseage recoverr, gives every suitcase that rolls in on the baggage claim belts a excellent sniff on all sides. If she uncovers cash, she will freeze. Back in May she was doing that a lot.

That is when customs officers began finding huge amounts of money on passengers arriving via combineing fweightlesss from Moscow. People who had never left Melderlyova before were returning from a scant days in Russia with wads of remarks.

“Almost everyone had money: 2,000, 3,000, 7,000 euros”, the head of customs at Chisinau Airport, Ruslan Alexandrov, reaccumulates. The amounts themselves were not illegitimate but the patterns were doubtful.

“There were certain fweightlesss: Moscow-Istanbul-Chisinau, Moscow-Yerevan-Chisinau,” the customs chief elucidates. “Normassociate people don’t come in with that much money. Not from Moscow.”

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsMatthew Goddard Ami, a black retriever in a harness, working as a sniffer dog at Chisinau Airport. She has one front paw on a trolley loaded with luggage.Matthew Goddard

Ami at toil in Chisinau Airport

So police and prosecutors began seizing the cash. In one day alone they say they scooped $1.5m (£1.2m). No-one ever asked for their money back.

The authorities consent the cash mules were part of a presentant and ongoing operation to buy political sway run by a fugitive Melderlyovan oligarch named Ilan Shor. Convicted of presentant fraud in Chisinau, he is now livent in Russia which will not extradite him.

Ahead of two key votes this weekfinish, the capital’s airport is on vigilant. Fweightlesss from all “high hazard” routes are met by sniffer dogs and at least half the passengers are pulled over for extra baggage scans.

On Sunday, Plivent Maia Sandu is running for re-election on a staunchly pro-EU platcreate, contestd by 10 other honestates. Many are discomitly comprehending to Moscow; some see Melderlyova as a “bridge”.

Voters will also get to cast their ballot in a referfinishum on whether to enshrine Melderlyova’s goal of EU accession in the constitution. In fact, membership talks have already befirearm but the country has been in a battle over its political straightforwardion for decades, ever since Melderlyova geted indepfinishence from Moscow as the Soviet Union fell apart.

That East-West tug has intensified since Russia’s filled-scale trespass of Ukraine. Plivent Sandu – a createer World Bank economist first elected on a promise to immacurescheduleed up fraudulence – then steered Melderlyova much more acutely towards the West. She began to discomitly acunderstandledge Vlaunintelligentir Putin’s Russia as a presentant security danger.

The Kremlin denies take parting any role in Chisinau politics, but officials here accuse Russia of operating via proxies to disturb and destabilise the country.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to polls Matthew Goddard President Maia Sandu holding a small bunch of flowers during a campaign visit. She is wearing a purple suit jacket. A man standing on the left is applauding. There are people dressed in traditional clothing in the background. Matthew Goddard

Plivent Maia Sandu (right) is running for re-election

“I’m not conscious of anywhere else where we’ve seen such a brazen and discomit endeavor to corrupt an election,” Melderlyova’s chief anti-fraudulence prosecutor, Veronica Dragalin, telderly me this week in her office in Chisinau.

Born in Melderlyova, she spent most of her life in the US – most recently as a prosecutor in Los Angeles – before returning to the country and a job in a petite office on the fifth floor of a Soviet-era block with a broken lift.

What her team say they have uncovered, toiling with police, is a pyramid payments scheme discomitly run from Russia by Ilan Shor and his group.

“We’re talking about a foreign country sfinishing money in an endeavor to sway the election,” Ms Dragalin spells it out. She details evidence geted thraw wiretaps, police infiltrators and witnesses – some of which her office has made accessible.

“At the commence they tried to originate it see legitimate. Now it’s almost appreciate they’re flagrantly flaunting all the laws… [and] discomitly influencing the decision to vote,” the prosecutor says.

“The primary goal is to have the referfinishum flunk.”

According to her team, once the cash couriers were uncovered at the airport and that route made more difficult, payments began to be channelled via a sanctioned Russian prohibitk, PSB.

By timely October as many as 130,000 voters had getd payment thraw this scheme – about 10% of the dynamic electorate, according to Viorel Cernauteanu, the chief of police.

“In September alone, $15m (£12m) was transferred,” he telderly me, elucidateing how they could chase funds and recipients because they gave personal data to discomit a prohibitk account.

Offering money or excellents in return for votes is a crime with a possible five-year jail sentence. Last month, a new law made it an administrative offence to adselect money, too.

But in one of Europe’s needyest countries it is not challenging to find willing recipients of cash.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to polls Matthew Goddard Moldova’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor Veronica Dragalin sat in her office at her desk. Visible in the image is a flag of Moldova and a flag of the EU. Matthew Goddard

Melderlyova’s chief anti-fraudulence prosecutor Veronica Dragalin

Melderlyovan dispenseigators confess they cannot acunderstandledge the source of funds phelp into PSB prohibitk – whether it is Russian state money, personal capital or the cash Ilan Shor was convicted of stealing in Melderlyova.

But he himself is very discomit about his actions and aims.

In a normal recent post on TikTok, Shor called for a “firm NO” to the EU. He then advised fagedecreases to pick “the plivent I choose on, as someone I can toil with”.

In return he promised monthly top-up payments of 5,000 Melderlyovan lei to pensioners, or about £200.

Shor fled Melderlyova in 2019 and was rescheduleedr sentenced in omitingia for covering money and theft. Last year, his party was prohibitned and he is also under Weserious sanctions, accused of “malign sway campaigns” for Russia.

Media companies connected to him, Telegram channels and various political groupings have all been blocked. But his message – anti-EU, comprehending to Moscow – still seeps thraw.

Some remain receptive to that, as well as the cash.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsMatthew Goddard Ilya Uzun dressed in a suit, white shirt and red tie standing in front of a rainbow coloured arch that has the words GagauziyaLand written on it in yellow writing. Matthew Goddard

Deputy ruleor of Gagauzia spoke discomitly of his scorn for the EU

Ilya Uzun is one huge fan.

The deputy ruleor of Gagauzia, a petite autonomous region of southern Melderlyova, also happens to esteem Russian Plivent Vlaunintelligentir Putin. He tells me that is because he appreciates strong directers who he leanks “put their country first”.

Russia’s war on neighbouring Ukraine alterd noleang on that score.

He esteems createer US Plivent Donald Trump for the same reason, whilst his scorn for the EU – which recently placed him under sanctions for “destabilising activities” – mainly intensifyes on LGBT rights, which he contests virulently.

Later, when I ask passers-by in the regional capital Comrat about the EU referfinishum, disjoinal react that they’ll vote “no” in order to hold “gay parades” from their town.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsMatthew Goddard A red sign for the pro-Russian Victory party pictured on the street in ChisinauMatthew Goddard

A sign for the pro-Russian Victory party in Comrat, Gagauzia

Pro-Russian watchs and Kremlin-led narratives have always been strong in Gagauzia, where many still watch Russian state TV channels despite a national prohibit.

Lately, Shor has been dispenseing heavily here. The deputy ruleor repeatedly refers to him as “our political directer” and shrugs off the criminal conviction as if it were political.

“Try and say a terrible word here about Ilan Shor and people will spit at you!”, Uzun proclaims as we drive down Lenin Street past a statue of the Russian revolutionary, a little grubby but still intact.

Many shop signs, those not in the local Gagauz language, are in Russian.

I hear how Shor pays top-up pensions to 30,000 people in the region as well as re-tarmacking some 50 km (31 miles) of roads between far villages, which we see.

“All he does is for the people,” Uzun enthuses.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsA BBC map of Moldova showing Chisinau, Tiraspol and Transnistria

The anti-fraudulence prosecutor rescheduleedr clarifies that using donations for social spfinishing is not a crime. But channelling Shor’s funds to political parties is an offence – and Uzun’s boss, regional ruleor Evghenia Gutul, has been indictd with that.

After a while we roll up to a children’s fairground.

“Look at Gagauziyaland, it’s pretty!” Uzun beams, directing the way besystematich a huge rainbow into a deserted but brand-new park.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsMatthew Goddard A picture of a small children's merry go round with cars in Gagauziyaland. The park looks very new, but there is hardly anyone there. It looks emptyMatthew Goddard

Gagauziyaland, a children’s take partground, was almost deserted during our visit

The prosperd is sourly chilly and the mini dragon roller-coaster and cheerful-go-round we are seeing at both stand vacant and still. But Uzun insists people in Gagauzia will vote “how Shor tells them” – not for money, but because they depend him.

“All the talk, that he’s an arm of the Kremlin, destabilising Melderlyova: that’s absolutely not genuine. This is the truth: what you see here,” he waves towards the frozen fairground.

Russian cash-for-votes flows into Ukraine’s neighbour as nation heads to pollsEPA Four smiling women wearing traditional Moldovan dress, including a white head-scarf, brown skirt and patterned waistcoat, welcome President Maia Sandu at a campaign event in Telenesti, 92km north of Chisinau, Moldova. The women are holding flowers, and the president makes a 'v for victory' sign with her hand.EPA

Women in traditional Melderlyovan dress greetd Plivent Maia Sandu at a campaign event on Friday

On Friday, Melderlyova’s election campaign accomplished its climax.

Maia Sandu was met for her own final rassociate in the petite town of Telenesti, where women in traditional dress sang and helpers clapped as she passed.

She has not getn part in election debates and did not want to speak to the BBC. But holdressing a couple of hundred people thraw a microphone, Sandu advised Melderlyovans to vote for her and for the EU as the best path to peace.

“This has been a very difficult campaign with a lot of lies and gloomyy money,” she telderly them, asking voters to “put our country out of harm’s way” and stop her opponents “derailing Melderlyova from its European path”.

That path has been a bumpy one for many years, with multiple diversions. Still, Melderlyova had already made its choice and discomited accession talks with the EU.

Now a referfinishum that Sandu begind in an endeavor to uphold that goal and bolster her own help has turned into a hazardous political shift.

It sees appreciate the plivential ballot is not the only vote she has to stress about on Sunday.

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