According to information from Chisinau, the Russian mercenary group Wagner planned a coup d’état in the Republic of Moldova, in Eastern Europe. The plan was to bribe voters and turn protests against the government into violence.
The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, said this in an interview with the Financial Times published today. “The situation is really dramatic and we have to protect ourselves,” said Sandu.
The money was smuggled from Russia to the former Soviet republic located between Ukraine and Romania, partly through money couriers and partly through Dubai bank accounts and cards. It is not clear from the text exactly when the coup was planned. There were warnings of an imminent coup at the beginning of the year. In March, the Chisinau government also claimed to have detained a Wagner mercenary.
Plan allegedly developed by Prigozhin
According to Sandus, the plan was developed by the team of Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, now deceased. The Wagner Group long fought alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine and rose to prominence in the battles for the city of Bakhmut.
However, Prigozhin later expressed harsh criticism of the military leadership and began a march on Moscow in June, which he canceled on the same day. Two months later, Prigozhin’s plane crashed on Russian soil.
The cause of the accident is not yet officially known. Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that the air disaster was caused by a grenade on board. Others, however, suspect that the Kremlin was behind the accident.