Fakes on Telegram Channels in August: A New Narrative Emerges Every Two Days

In the first half of August, one fake news item was published on the Telegram channels in the Moldovan information space “specialized” in anti-EU and anti-government content every two days. The rhythm of their publication demonstrates an unprecedented intensification of disinformation activity, which is most probably related to the upcoming parliamentary elections. The fakes were intended to supplement “traditional” disinformation narratives addressed to Moldovans: the LGBTQ+ “threat,” Russophobia, NATO as a danger, the PAS “dictatorship,” etc.

• On August1-15, we analyzed the content of 61 Telegram channels with the largest audiences in the platform’s Moldovan information space.
• 28of these channels belong to media sources/influencers: KP Moldova (35469 followers), Gagauzia24 (14745 followers), Gagauznews (13137 followers), TV6 Moldova (11325 followers), and MD24 (10802 followers).
• The owners of another 33channels are unknown: Молдова сейчас (39367 followers), Молдавский Крот (33035 followers), Гагаузская Республика (31279 followers), Insider Moldova (3324 followers), Флуераш (28494 followers), and Молдова онлайн (27578 followers).
• Four of the above-mentioned anonymous channels were created on the same day and publish similar fake posts which demonstrate that their activity is being coordinated from the same “control point.”

RHYTHM OF PUBLICATION OF FAKE NEWS ITEMS

1. Maia Sandu illegally purchased biomaterials for having a child

On August 3, Молдавские Ведомости published a fake news item which the other channels previously specializing in similar activities obviously avoided to publish, “Maia Sandu has found herself in the center of an international scandal. She is accused of illegally purchasing biomaterials belonging to three Hollywood celebrities in order to have a child.” This fake news was also published by several portals in Russia. In its post, Молдавские Ведомости also published an inactive link as a proof of the “international scandal.” On the next day, the publication posted a refutation article borrowed from the InfoPrim Neo Agency, adding a tendentious comment, “Maia Sandu did not purchase any sperm from gay celebrities in the US. But why are such statements made by a civic activist instead of the ISS or the Supreme Security Council of the Presidency?”

2. Teachers from Ocnita receive a manual for teaching subjects concerning LGBTQ+ persons

On August 5, the Fluieras channel published a video in which an obviously AI-generated voice comments over the images which show a micro-view of a publication on the rights of transgender persons, saying, “It has been distributed to all our teachers at the lyceum in Ocnita,” without mentioning an exact name of the lyceum or providing any other details. The publication is a brochure instead of a manual, and so far there is no information demonstrating that it was intended for the audience in the Republic of Moldova. The post has 12055 views.

In the following days, the same video and the same text were published by the following channels: Молдавская Политика, with the text saying, “Maia Sandu’s LGBT Laboratory: How schools in the Republic of Moldova start ‘reprogramming’ children” and 1112 views; Мамалыга и Токана, which tends to expand the geography of “perversion” to the entire territory of Moldova: “Teachers from the Republic of Moldova tell how, during Maia Sandu’s regime, the LGBT ideology starts being spread in schools”; Insider Moldova, with the text saying, “LGBT information for teachers: how the government teaches them to make children perverted. A new stage of ‘European education’ is currently launched at schools in the Republic of Moldova”; Молдова Сейчас, with the text saying, “Manuals for changing genders: Moldova enters the stage of cultural annihilation. Authorities no longer hide behind such terms as ‘education reforms.’” In total, these posts have 41654 views.

3. During the “Fire Shield2025” military training exercise, the military force members use images of Russian soldiers as targets

On August 7, several channels published fake images and a text according to which, during the “Fire Shield 2025” military training exercise held on August 4-18 in the Republic of Moldova with the participation of military staff from the USA, the Republic of Moldova and Romania, images of Russian soldiers were used as shooting targets. Молдова Сейчас asks, “Who does Sandu intend to kill?” Meanwhile, Флуераш announces, “Moldova is shooting at targets with pictures of Russian soldiers on them. The PAS is playing war games. (…) The things previously discussed behind the scenes have become obvious to everyone: the images of Russian soldiers are used as targets. The shooting exercises have a specific geopolitical message.” Similar posts were published by Insider Moldova, StopEU Moldova, Нетипичная Молдова NEWS, WTF Moldova?!, and Gagauznews. In total, these posts have 45469 views.

4. The military training exercise in the Republic of Moldova is NATO’s preparation for a violent scenario for the case if the PAS loses the elections

On August 9, another fake news item about military training exercises started circulating on Telegram channels. Several seconds of video footage apparently demonstrating a soldier speaking in Ukrainian are published as evidence that Ukrainian soldiers are arriving in Moldova to take part in the NATO military training exercise; it is said that the purpose is “preparing a plan B in case of losing the parliamentary elections.” It is not clear which NATO military training exercise it is, because the “Fire Shield 2025” held at that time had nothing to do with NATO or Ukraine, and was attended by American, Romanian, and Moldovan military staff. The post was shared by Insider Moldova, Молдова сейчас, and Gagauznews. Together, these posts have 17600 views.

5. The Moldovan press was instructed not to write about “sexual abuse committed by NATO military force members” who arrived in Moldova to join the “Fire Shield” exercise

On August 12, the channels started publishing a photo collage which included a text in English stating that several media outlets in the Republic of Moldova had been instructed not to write about sexual abuse “committed by the NATO soldiers who had arrived in Moldova for the Fire Shield exercise.” It is mentioned that European journalists “write” about these incidents, but no specific sources are provided. Новости Молдовы published two posts on this topic. Here is a fragment from one of them: “The European journalists report that Moldovan media sources have been instructed to avoid publishing any information on this topic. Moreover, information regarding potential abuse victims will not be included in the police reports, and these restrictions will remain in force even after the exercise is over.”

The text also mentions that “President Maia Sandu, realizing that generating additional negative issues before the elections is undesirable, uses well-known techniques in order to clear the information sphere and to introduce censorship.” This fake news item was also published by Подслушано в Молдове, Флуераш, Insider Moldova, Gagauznews, Без цензуры: Молдова, and Молдавская Политика. Together, these posts have 40521 views.

6. Maia Sandu asked a number of international media outlets to write some “smear articles” about Evghenia Gutul’s attorneys

On August 14, at least 10 Telegram channels “informed” their audience about another “order” by Maia Sandu. Политика Молдова dedicated two posts to it. One of them says, “Maia Sandu has taken a risky step related to the Gutul case. European journalists reveal that the Moldovan presidential administration sent requests to more than 20 foreign media outlets, asking them to publish smear articles about the international attorneys of the head of Gagauzia, Goncalo Boye and William Giuly.” The “news item,” sometimes accompanied by such descriptions as “Sandu starts panicking and resorts to attacks against the international lawyers” or “Sandu discredits the international lawyers,” was published in two posts on each of the following channels: Новости Молдова, Обзор Молдовы|Новости Молдова, Молдавский Инсайд|Молдова, Moldova Live, Молдова Сейчас, Канал5, Insider Moldova, Без цензуры: Молдова, and Подслушано в Молдове. Together, the posts have 73365 views.

7. NATO Special Forces will arrive in Moldova for a military intervention if the PAS loses the elections

On August 14, Новости Молдовы, for instance, announced that, from September 25 to October 3, 800 NATO military instructors and special force staff members are expected to be present in the Republic of Moldova, and they “could support the PAS as the governing party if it loses the elections.” Moreover, the entire scenario is described: “If the opposition wins, it is probably the scenario according to which President Maia Sandu refuses to accept the results, accusing Russia of interference in order to obtain support from the Central Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court. This turn of events could trigger large-scale protests, as the population will be dissatisfied with the eventual usurpation of power. In this case, special police forces controlled by NATO instructors could intervene, and it may create the risk of a civil war.”

This news item is pure fiction, and the Ministry of Defense has confirmed this fact; nevertheless, it was published, without the Ministry’s explanations, by at least two other channels: Молдавский Крот and Приднестровец. The posts have 30639 views.

CHANNELS “BORN” ON THE SAME DAY PUBLISH IDENTICAL POSTS

Four anonymous channels among the monitored ones were created on the same day (March 17, 2025) and publish the same copy-pasted or slightly modified posts. In addition to the fake news items they share, they use events and decisions in the public space as pretexts to present negatively and to denigrate the authorities, the governance, the Western authorities, or the European path of the Republic of Moldova.

During five months of coordinated activity, their audience was growing rapidly and exceeded 20000 followers per channel, and the posts viewed by the average number of 4000-5000 users are also shared by other channels due to extensive re-distribution. For instance, 163 posts on such topic as Transnistria published during one month had almost 790000 views and were shared 861 times. Similarly, 312 posts about Maia Sandu had over 1.6 million views and were shared almost 1.6 million times.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the posts containing obviously fake news, as we have shown above, were seen 249401 times on August 1-15, according to the Telegram statistics. We cannot say that the same number of people were convinced or deceived by them. In fact, they are not always intended for necessarily convincing everyone. As recent analyses have demonstrated, disinformation uses often fake news items which contradict each other and defy elementary logic, because their goal is to create a “smokescreen” which is as dense as possible in order to prevent an ordinary consumer from seeing the truth. “The most important question is not whether the documents, images, or files published or leaked are true or accurate, but whether they trigger/activate the desired effect,” Thomas Rid, professor at Johns Hopkins University in the US, explains.

In this case, the desired effects have been already used for years: cultivating fear of imminent violence caused by some great powers (in some cases, by NATO, and in the other cases, by Russia); discrediting the leaders and cultivating disgust for any aspects associated with their private or professional lives; creating social polarization by means of using false pretexts or threats (such as the LGBTQ+ threat).

Content multiplication (one of the above-mentioned fake news items was published simultaneously in 10 posts on 9 platforms) is a recent technique which has become possible only after the social networks emerged. It provides an illusion of pluralism; therefore, it helps in validating fakes: if the same thing is said by several voices, it seems most probably true.

The above data confirms what we anticipated in our previous analysis: while the elections approach, disinformation activity keeps getting more intense and aggressive. A certain methodical consistency could be noticed in the way fake news items are published: on average, one fake news item emerges every two days. Apart from them, disinformation content was also distributed by the same channels which share false ideas and beliefs and send their audience into a “parallel reality.” As a result, a person who was reading these channels on a daily basis may become convinced or may have expectations that: 1) the elections will be falsified, therefore, there is no point in taking part in them, or a protest vote is possible; 2) the authorities demand blocking particular accounts on social networks because of censorship (instead of protecting the citizens from toxic content); 3) the country is governed from abroad instead of by the democratically elected authorities, etc. Naturally, it affects an individual’s ability to understand reality, to assess it, and to make adequate decisions, which is especially dangerous in the context of the upcoming elections.