The Chisinau Court of Appeal – Central Office will hold the first hearing on Monday, October 20, in the case initiated by the Information and Security Service (SIS) against the organization Eurasia. Authorities allege that fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor used Eurasia to coordinate subversive influence operations targeting the Republic of Moldova.
The court initially scheduled the hearing for October 6 but postponed it for reasons that remain unclear. The SIS has asked the court to officially designate Eurasia as an extremist organization, IPN reports.
The SIS has not disclosed further details, but its report on foreign interference in Moldova’s 2024 electoral processes identifies Eurasia as one of several entities involved in hybrid influence operations. According to the report, foreign actors carried out interference through “platforms, agents of influence, and instruments typical of hybrid operations,” including the Eurasia entity, the Victory Bloc, and the criminal group led by Ilan Shor, supported by individuals under international sanctions and wanted by law enforcement.
The SIS claims that Eurasia financed trips for Moldovan citizens—especially members and sympathizers of groups affiliated with the Victory Bloc—to Moscow under the guise of cultural and educational projects. There, participants reportedly received training in socio-political organization, electoral technologies, and destabilization tactics.
According to the report, experts and instructors from Russia, Belarus, and Central Asian countries led these sessions, which also featured speakers from the youth wing of Russia’s ruling party, as well as propagandists and ideologists.
The SIS also documented the involvement of clergy. In August and September 2024, roughly 500 priests and parishioners from the Moldovan Orthodox Church, which operates under the Russian Patriarchate, traveled to Moscow for “pilgrimages” and religious events such as the Way of the Cross and the March of Peace. Russian entities allegedly financed these trips.
In response to the allegations, Aliona Arshinova, a member of the Russian State Duma and head of Eurasia’s Coordinating Council, told Russian media that the organization carries out “humanitarian” activities in Moldova—supporting farmers and pensioners and organizing “cultural exchange” trips for youth across the Eurasian space.
The United States sanctioned Eurasia in September 2024, accusing it of attempting to destabilize Moldova’s socio-political environment ahead of the presidential elections.
If the court upholds the SIS request, Eurasia will become the first Russia-based organization officially declared extremist in Moldova. This designation would ban all its operations and freeze its accounts and assets in the country.