Moldovans are voting in a pivotal presidential runoff. But voter fraud threatens its democracy

CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldovan historian and politician Octavian Ticu remembers when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, a seismic event that enabled him to become one of the first amateur boxers to fight for his country at the pinnacle of his sport: the Olympic Games.

“It was a happy moment for me,” the 52-year-old recalls, as he wraps his fists at a boxing gym in the capital, Chisinau. “In 1996, I participated in the Olympics in Atlanta. … If I were in the Soviet Union, I would never have accomplished this.”

But today, more than three decades after proclaiming independence, Moldova is being targeted by Russia in a hybrid war of propaganda and disinformation that “wreaks havoc,” Ticu, who competed in the lightweight division, told The Associated Press.

Like Ukraine and Georgia, the former Soviet republic aspires to join the European Union but is caught in a constant geopolitical tug between Moscow and the West.

“Russian propaganda is a reality of 30 years of independence,” added Ticu, who has written several books on his country’s history.

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This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.

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