Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans barred from voting: Kremlin
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Moldova’s 2025 elections spark controversy as opposition alleges voting fraud, citing restrictions for citizens abroad and in Transnistria.
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Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, leader of the Patriotic Electoral bloc, speaks to supporters gathered outside the Electoral Commission after the polls closed for the parliamentary election, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 (AP)
Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were unable to cast their votes in the Moldovan parliamentary elections, a situation which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Monday was due to the lack of opportunity for them to participate on Russian territory.
"And from what we see and know, we can confirm that hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were deprived of the opportunity to vote in the Russian Federation. Because only two polling stations were open to them. This, naturally, was insufficient and could not allow everyone to vote," the Kremlin spokesperson told reporters, according to RIA Novosti.
The spokesperson further added that, at the same time, providing any evaluations of the elections held in Moldova is contingent upon the country's political forces first assessing the results.
Meanwhile, Vasile Tarlev, the leader of the opposition Future of Moldova party and a former prime minister, told RIA Novosti that Moldova's opposition Patriotic Bloc would consider challenging the results of the parliamentary elections if evidence of violations were found.
Only 12,000 out of 270,000 Moldovans in Transnistria voted
Moldova held snap parliamentary elections on Sunday to elect lawmakers for a four-year term. After counting 99.65% of the vote protocols, five political parties have preliminarily crossed the electoral threshold to enter the legislature.
The results indicate that the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) lost nine seats, securing a total of 54, while the opposition, collectively, is set to secure 47 parliamentary seats.
"Today, our specialists and lawyers are analyzing all the violations that have been recorded, and then we will make a decision. There are violations, and if there is evidence, we will definitely contest the results," Tarlev stated.
While the Moldovan authorities traditionally open polling stations on the right bank of the Dniester River for residents of the autonomous Transnistria region, during the recent parliamentary elections, only 12 such stations were opened, which represented just a third of the previous number.
Out of 270,000 Moldovan citizens living in Transnistria, just over 12,000 managed to reach the polling stations. Transnistrian Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev stated that this low turnout was a result of Moldovan authorities creating artificial traffic jams on bridges across the Dniester River, setting up physical barriers, and conducting excessive checks of citizens and vehicles.
Moldovan opposition rejects election results
Following the announcement of preliminary results, former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who is one of the leaders of the opposition Patriotic bloc, announced during a spontaneous rally outside the Central Electoral Commission that while the opposition had won the domestic vote, the voting abroad was tainted with fraud at the polling stations.
His plan to defend the opposition's victory centers on a peaceful protest scheduled for September 29 in central Chisinau, and he has called upon all opposition parties to join and support this demonstration.
Meanwhile, Ilan Shor, the leader of the Pobeda (Victory) opposition bloc, stated that the Moldovan opposition does not recognize the results of the recent parliamentary elections and will proceed to appeal them in both national and international institutions.
"We will appeal to both national and international institutions," Shor told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster, adding that the opposition does not recognize the results of the elections and noting that the Pobeda bloc will call on the population of Moldova to protest in the upcoming days.
"Ten, fifteen, twenty percent of people were deliberately intimidated to prevent them from going to the polls," Shor emphasized. When asked about the possibility of cooperation with the former Moldovan president and leader of the opposition Patriotic Electoral bloc, Igor Dodon, the leader of the Victory bloc said his group will join up with any political force that will "fight to overthrow the regime" of President Maia Sandu.
