For weeks, police in the Republic of Moldova have been posting alarming notices on their Telegram messaging channel.

Authorities have repeatedly warned of "fake news" on social media sites, called on citizens not to take "election bribes" and released reports on the arrest of paid demonstrators. Most recently, Moldova's police posted a video explaining to voters how Russia is currently buying masses of votes through an app named "Taito."

Moldovan President Maia Sandu described what is going on in her tiny country, sandwiched between southwestern Ukraine and northeastern Romania, after attending a Supreme Security Council meeting last week by pointing to the "unprecedented" example of Russia's efforts to "interfere" in the country's upcoming election.

But why? The result of the vote on September 28 will determine whether the tiny republic remains a democratic nation on a path to European integration or whether an alliance of pro-Russian parties takes over the government and maneuvers it back into Moscow's orbit. And despite the campaign not having officially begun, events in the country are moving fast.

Russia is apparently treating Moldova as a proving ground for various pre-election hybrid attacks. The aim is to relentlessly use acts of sabotage to sow doubt in the country's democratic system to create uncertainty and political chaos.

Russia's tools? Paid public protests, massive vote buying in Moldova and among Moldovans abroad, flooding social media with fake news — and, increasingly, misleading AI-generated content — and hacker attacks on IT systems.

Beyond these, Russia has also increased the number of missiles and drones that it flies through Moldova's airspace en route to attacking Ukraine in an effort to create more fear of war among Moldovans. These efforts combined have transformed Moldova's........

© Deutsche Welle